John Wells, 92, British artist

[T.E. Goodell]

LONDON (AP) - John Wells, a member of the ``St. Ives Group'' of English
artists, was found dead at his home July 27, the day before his birthday. He
was 92.

An autopsy determined that he died of natural causes.

Born in London, Wells was raised in an artists' colony and went on to study
medicine while taking evening classes in life drawing. After qualifying as a
doctor, he set up a practice on the remote Scilly Isles, off the southwest tip
of England, continuing to paint part time.

Wells' work drew on the area's rugged landscape of sea and rock, and was
influenced by the Russian Constructivists, with their lines and geometrical
shapes.

After World War II, in which he served as a Royal Navy medial officer, he took
up painting full time.

In 1946, he founded the Crypt Group, a collection of modernists within the
established artists' community of St. Ives in Cornwall. He had his first London
show in 1946, and gained recognition in Britain and abroad throughout the
1950s.

Wells lost the sight in one eye when he was 50 but continued to work,
exhibiting mostly in the southwest of England. The Tate Gallery in St. Ives
mounted a retrospective exhibition to mark his 90th birthday.