John Bastin was born in London in 1929.
After National Service in the Royal Navy, he went up to Corpus Christi, Oxford on an Open Scholarship to read Natural Science (Physics). He obtained his BA in 1952, subsequently gaining his MA in 1955 and Ph. D in 1956.
A series of academic posts followed, culminating in his years as Professor of Astrophysics at Queen Mary College, London University.
Throughout his career, John painted water colours and brought his knowledge of physics to enrich the use of the medium. During the 1980's he held a Leverhulme Emeritus Fellowship on 'Effects of Atmosphere on Landscape'.
John Bastin studied at Goldsmiths and the Royal Academy Schools and tries to paint at least three new images each week. Since much of his work is landscape, his is able to keep to the Rowland Hilder precept 'paint a sky a day'.
The artist recently moved to Somerset which will provide him with a rich new source of subject matter. He also has a house in S. W. France, where he spends part of the year developing his ideas on details of composition and the use of pigments.
