John Littlejohns: Artist, Teacher, and Writer of the British Landscape

From Orchard Hill to Westminster: A Life in Art and Instruction

Origins in North Devon

John Littlejohns was born in 1875 at Northam, Devon, the son of William Littlejohns and Mary Anne Moore, who later married in 1878 at Welcombe, Devon.

1881 Census

His early childhood is recorded in the 1881 Census, which places the family at Orchard Hill 4, Northam. His father, William, aged 40 and born in Cornwall, worked as a Carpenter, while his mother Mary J., aged 33, kept the household. Two children were present: John, aged 6, and Ann, aged 3, and the home also included Thomas Vinson, an 80‑year‑old boarder.

1891 Census

By the 1891 Census, the family had moved to 97 Orchard Hill, where William, now 50, continued his trade and Mary, aged 43, remained at home. Their children were John, aged 16, Annie, aged 13, and Florence, aged 4, all attending school. Another boarder, Charles Godbear, aged 60, was also present. These early records portray a stable working household rooted in the rural‑industrial landscape of North Devon, a setting that would later inform the quiet naturalism of John’s artistic work.

Training and Early Steps into Art

1901 Census

By the 1901 Census, John Littlejohns, aged 26, was living as a boarder in the home of John Campbell at 39 Walter Road, Swansea and his occupation was recorded as Art Master, indicating that he had already established himself within the world of art education. His early training at the Bideford School of Art, where he began as a pupil‑teacher at around sixteen, provided the academic foundation that shaped both his artistic and teaching careers. This dual identity — artist and educator — would remain central to his life’s work.

Bideford School of Art

Littlejohns’s formal artistic development began at the Bideford School of Art, one of the small but culturally significant provincial art schools that flourished in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The school followed the principles of the South Kensington system, emphasising observational drawing, anatomy, perspective, and watercolour technique, alongside decorative and applied arts intended to prepare students for careers in teaching, illustration, commercial art, and craftsmanship. Situated in the historic port town of Bideford, the school drew pupils from across North Devon, including Northam, Appledore, Westward Ho!, and the rural communities along the Torridge estuary. Its proximity to rivers, wooded valleys, and coastal scenery made it an ideal environment for nurturing landscape painters.

Littlejohns entered the school at around sixteen, beginning as a pupil‑teacher, a role that allowed promising students to receive advanced instruction while assisting in the teaching of junior classes. This early combination of technical training and pedagogical experience shaped the dual identity that would define his career: that of the artist‑teacher, equally committed to the practice and the instruction of art. The school’s encouragement of plein‑air study, tonal sensitivity, and close observation of the natural world left a lasting imprint on Littlejohns’s work, visible throughout his later landscapes of Devon, Cornwall, and the wider British countryside.

Emergence as a British Landscape Painter

As his career developed, Littlejohns became recognised as a British painter, illustrator, art writer, and teacher, producing work that centred on the landscapes of Devon, Cornwall, and the wider British countryside. His paintings explored rivers, valleys, coastal villages, mountain scenes, and rural figures, rendered with a soft atmospheric quality and a careful, almost meditative handling of light. Works such as “Gathered in Devon” and “Mardale, Westmorland”, along with numerous village and farmhouse scenes, reveal his quiet observational tone and sensitivity to the character of rural Britain. He also produced portraits and self‑portraits, one of which survives in auction records. His landscapes, with their gentle tonal shifts and contemplative mood, place him firmly within the tradition of early twentieth‑century British rural painting.

Contribution to British Railway Poster Art

Whitley Bay
1929
John Littlejohns

By L.N.E.R. to the Moors
1930
John Littlejohns

A distinctive strand of Littlejohns’s output was his contribution to the golden age of British railway travel posters, a field in which he achieved considerable recognition. His designs — including “Whitley Bay” (1929), “Felixstowe” (c. 1933), and “By L.N.E.R. to the Moors” (c. 1930) — are admired for their romantic dusk lighting, strong colour harmony, and their ability to evoke a sense of place with clarity and warmth. These posters remain highly collectible today and stand as some of the most atmospheric examples of British commercial art from the interwar period.

Professional Advancement in London

1911 Census

By the 1911 Census, John was living at 1 Augustine Road, Brook Green, West Kensington Park, London W., and was employed as Assistant Master / Senior Art Master at Westminster City School, Palace Street, SW, a respected position that placed him within London’s educational and artistic networks. His move from Devon to London marked a significant transition from rural beginnings to the cultural and academic life of the capital, where he balanced teaching with the steady development of his own artistic practice.

Marriage, Domestic Life, and Later Work

1921 Census

John married Idalia Blanche Hewett in 1916 at Hammersmith, London. The 1921 Census records the couple living at 4 Brook Green Studios, Dunsany Road, W14, a location associated with a lively artistic community. John, aged 47, was employed as a Schoolmaster / Assistant Master by the Governors of Westminster City School, while his wife Idalia Blanche, aged 28 and born in Worcester, was also engaged in artistic work.

1939 Register

By the 1939 Register, John was living at 40 Dover Street, City of Westminster, and his occupation was recorded simply as Artist, suggesting that he had moved away from full‑time teaching to concentrate on his own creative work. John and Idalia later spent time living in Polperro, Cornwall, a location that strongly influenced his landscape work and connected him to the artistic communities of the south‑west.

Writings on Art and Aesthetic Thought

An Introduction into the Study of Colour 1928 John Littlejohns

Alongside his painting and teaching, Littlejohns wrote on art theory and aesthetics, producing works such as An Introduction into the Study of Colour (1928) and The Training of Taste in the Arts and Crafts (1933). These publications reveal him as a thoughtful educator who sought to articulate the principles behind artistic practice. His writing demonstrates a commitment to the intellectual foundations of art, placing him within the tradition of the early twentieth‑century artist‑teacher whose influence extended beyond the studio and classroom.

Final Years and Legacy

John Littlejohns died in 1952 at Bideford, aged 79, bringing to a close a career that bridged rural Devon, metropolitan London, and the artistic centres of Cornwall. His legacy survives in his paintings, railway posters, writings on art, and the generations of students he taught. Like Chapman, Clement, and Foster, he belongs to that quiet but enduring tradition of British artists whose work reflects both the beauty of the landscape and the intellectual curiosity of the artist‑teacher. His contribution to early twentieth‑century visual culture remains a testament to a life shaped by observation, craftsmanship, and a deep engagement with the natural world.