A- Stairway Art (original to the ship)

[Twynkle]

Hi Richard - Well found!
John Piper has always had a strong following.
His stained glass is superb.
Have you seen his pen and ink drawings?
One of his 'given' names is 'Christmas' -
perhaps that's one of the reasons that his work is often found in cathedrals!!
Rosie

[Trevor Harris]

My favorite artwork aboard QE2. I wish I could be able to have a small scale copy of "The Sea"

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

My favorite artwork aboard QE2. I wish I could be able to have a small scale copy of "The Sea"

Wouldn't it be lovely if one of us was able to go and view the original in St Andrew's Church in Wolverhampton... worth a detour for someone travelling within the UK?

[Andy Holloway]

Personally, i always thought that some of the artwork on 'A' Stairway was hideous and had been deliberately put there to frighten children away and prevent them from going anywhere near '1st Class'/Queen's Grill!

[Rob Lightbody]

....Finally, on the Boat Deck landing, near the Britannia figurehead and the entrance to the Queen's Grill, the large and beautiful 7-piece panel called "The Sea" -- actually the half-size cartoon for window panels in St Andrew's Church, Wolverhampton, by John Piper (1959) :

If I remember Bruce Peter's opinion well, he thought that this panel was the best piece of original art on the QE2.

I wonder whether anyone knows St Andrew's church in Wolverhampton -- does it have the full-size version of this picture?

indeed it does!  It looks STUNNING

Have a look here - https://www.warwickartscentre.co.uk/news/2018/05/john-piper-exhibition-john-piper-in-the-west-midlands-part-1-/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Andrew's_Church,_Wolverhampton

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

What a beauty! Thank you for the link. Have you been there, Rob?

[Rob Lightbody]

What a beauty! Thank you for the link. Have you been there, Rob?

No!  I didn't know it existed until just now. It looks truly stunning, I'd love to see it.  It sounds like they know its an important artwork but the church, like many in the UK now, sounds like its used much less than it used to be, and is a fairly brutalist/concrete style, so hopefully it will survive...

[Thomas Hypher]

My favourite stairway onboard to this day, with several happy and otherwise vivid memories to go with it...

[Rob Lightbody]

Moderator note!  We have another another topic about the A stairway generally, this topic was to discuss the artwork specifically.

[Lynda Bradford]

Moderator note!  We have another another topic about the A stairway generally, this topic was to discuss the artwork specifically.

....and conversation on stairway A not pertaining to the artwork can continue on the general "A Stairway" topic
https://www.theqe2story.com/forum/index.php?topic=2297.0

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

My favourite stairway onboard to this day, with several happy and otherwise vivid memories to go with it...

Yes, I suppose we need to count the Britannia statue as an artwork on A Stairway, but in my memory it was my least favourite piece of art in the whole ship...

Still, I suppose I would have missed it if on my last voyage it had suddenly disappeared. It somehow seemed to live there...