Student Artwork Guide
Copyright This work is in the public domain. John Arthur Evans died in 1941; copyright lasts 70 years after the artist’s death, so it ended in 2011.
In context
Self Portrait — John Arthur Evans
The original measures 49 × 38 cm (height × width), drawn here beside an adult of average height.
Row above: the years. Row below: how old the artist was at the start and at the end of each span — 0 at birth, 90 at death.
Shaded: the lifetime of John Arthur Evans (1851–1941) every dated painting, decade by decade
This record has no exact year on file — using the artist's lifetime and the work's style, what decade would you guess?
Pick one work above: name two things it shares with this one, and one thing that's different.
More works to set beside this one: artsdot.com/en/art/similar/john-arthur-evans-self-portrait-AQSFYT-en/
Measured from the image
Main colour
White #fdfdfc
Catalogued palette
These colours inside the artist’s whole palette Find other paintings by colour
The ten leading countries
Find the three darkest countries on the map. Is the museum that keeps this painting in any of them? Write down one reason people far away might look at it.
Together these works take 100.0% of all the attention this artist's paintings received over the last twelve months. The catalogue holds 38 works by this artist, of which 7 were looked at at least once. This painting has not been looked at yet in that time — it closes the list without a rank. The same counts, month by month
Bars measure attention, not quality. Pick the work at the top and this one: name one thing that might make a painting famous beyond how well it is painted.
Artist and museum
Newport, 1851. A child is born into the landscape that will eventually define his entire creative existence. John Arthur Evans grows up amidst the valleys of Monmouthshire, a place where the geological bones of the earth are visible in limestone cliffs and winding riverbeds. This is not merely a backdrop for him; it is the primary subject of a lifelong devotion.
His early training at the Newport School of Art brings him under the influence of William Dyce. The presence of a painter so closely tied to the Pre-Raphaelite aesthetic introduces Evans to a specific way of seeing. He learns to look for the minute details in a leaf, the precise way light hits a stone, and the heavy atmosphere of a Welsh morning. This training anchors his work in a commitment to observation, even as he moves toward more fluid, impressionistic methods later in life.
The brushwork shifts. The rigid lines of early training begin to soften into something more atmospheric. Evans turns his attention to the Wye Valley and its tributaries, seeking to capture the shifting moods of the landscape. He does not merely record the topography of places like Pen y Bryn or Raglan Castle; he records how they feel under a heavy mist or in the low light of dusk.
His technique relies on layered brushstrokes and subtle tonal gradations. He manipulates pigments to create a sense of depth, making the viewer feel the moisture in the air or the rough texture of a rock face. In works such as The Naval Temple and the Round House, Kymin, the landscape takes on an impressionistic quality where light and shadow dictate the composition.
Donkey on a Path: A quiet study of rural life featuring a donkey and two dogs moving through a wooded corridor.
Mitchel Troy Stocks: A 19th-century depiction of faith and rural existence within the Welsh landscape.
Unidentified Landscape: An exploration of the serene beauty found near Rockfield Road.
By the time Evans reaches the end of his life in 1941, he has left behind a visual archive of a specific era of Wales. His paintings act as a record of geological formations and the quiet rhythms of the countryside before the modern age transformed them. He captures the stillness of the valleys and the turbulent flow of the rivers with a precision that honors the land's history.
His work remains in public collections across Britain and Wales. These canvases continue to hold the light of the Welsh valleys, preserving the specific character of Monmouthshire for those who look closely at the textures of his oil on canvas. He remains a chronicler of the region, a man who saw the grandeur in the local and the profound in the familiar.
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Look closely
Self Portrait — John Arthur Evans
Answer in your own words. There are no wrong answers here — only answers you can explain.
Write a short paragraph about this artwork. Use the facts from the earlier parts of this guide, and your answers above.
To get a print of "Self Portrait" by John Arthur Evans, simply order it on its Fine Art Print page: a fine art print on cotton canvas or archival canvas paper.
The perceived brightness of "Self Portrait" by John Arthur Evans is shadow. It can be matched to the light of the intended space.
The recorded values for "Self Portrait" by John Arthur Evans are: shadow brightness, gentle luminance luminance.