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John Banting

John Banting (1902-1971) was a British artist who studied in London and Paris. He associated with the Bloomsbury Group and made cover and book designs for the Hogarth Press, as well as designing for the ballet. In 1929, he assisted his friend Brian Howard with the creation of works by the ficticious artist 'Bruno Hat'. Banting became seriously interested in Surrealism in 1930, when he met André Breton, Alberto Giacometti, and Marcel Duchamp in Paris. Banting showed Surrealist-inspired works at his  Wertheim Gallery exhibition in 1931, and was included in the 1936 International Exhibition of Surrealism in London, and the 1938 Surrealist exhibition in Paris (at the invitation of Duchamp). Banting's illustrated book, A Blue Book of Conversation, was published in 1946. In the 1950s, he lived in Rye and then Hastings, near his friend Edward Burra. After his death, there were several retrospective exhibitions of Banting's works, including one in 1987 at the Hastings Museum and Art Gallery. His works have been included in numerous exhibitions of Surrealism in Britain and France, including British Surrealism 1935-1995 at England & Co.


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