David Emery Gascoyne
(1916-2001), PoetSitter in 7 portraits
Gascoyne's first collection Roman Balcony and other Poems was published when he was sixteen. That same year he travelled to Paris, drawn to the avant-garde experimentation. In the late 1930s he abandoned surrealist prose after discovering the poems of Pierre Jean Jouve (1887-1976) and enjoyed critical success with works including 'Man's Life is this Meat' (1936) and 'Requiem' (1950). In the 1960s he suffered from depression and while a psychiatric patient Gascoyne met his future wife, Judy Lewis, who helped him recover from depression. In 1996 he was awarded the 'Chevalier de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'.
by Bettina Shaw-Lawrence
pen and ink, 1944
NPG 6940
by Rollie McKenna
bromide print, 1951
NPG P1669
by Gertrude Hermes
bronze bust, 1956
NPG 5971
by Mark Gerson
bromide print, 1987
NPG x35717
by Matthew R. Lewis
vintage bromide print, 1989
NPG x136365
by Marc Atkins
gelatin silver print, 1996
NPG x87649
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