Breath of Toil

The stature of John Young’s aviation art is underlined by the number of prestigious international awards he had received. He has been honoured by many organisations: from the British Guild of Aviation Artists to the American Society of Aviation Artists.

Born in 1930, John Young has been painting the rich pageant of colour and atmosphere which surrounds planes for over forty years. He was fired with enthusiasm as a child by skies filled with the planes of the Second World War. He went to art school and from there into the RAF for National Service. As one might expect from a man who knows aircraft from the inside out and is therefore able to portray them with technical precision, John Young has flown in nearly 60 types of aircraft throughout the world!

John Young has painted professionally since 1950. His work combines a truthful representation of mechanical subjects with sensitivity to the many moods of the sky and land. But his greatest talent lies in his remarkable ability to tell a story through his work.

A widely acclaimed book has been published featuring his painting, which is enduringly popular on both sides of the Atlantic. John Young also worked on the set design for Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001, and his paintings can be found in the offices of governments, airlines, air forces and aircraft manufacturers across the globe.

Over the years John Young has established himself as one of the most collected and valued aviation and transport artists in the world and 45 of his paintings are held in the RAF Museum at Hendon in London.