Born 1927 in London. Up to the mid fifties Alan John exhibited in group exhibitions at the Leicester gallery, the London Group, the R.B.A. Galleries and the Glasgow Academy. In 1956 he was awarded a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Painter Stainers. His first major solo show was at the Alwin gallery in Mayfair in 1971 exhibiting paintings and related bronzes. He was then invited by Simon Heiger to become a Member of the Contemporary Portrait Society, followed by a show at Wildensteins gallery in Bond Street.

Alan John is an artist of striking perception, sifting the pure from the false. He gathers colours, materials and ideas and then begins to 'juggle'. The dialogue is between the various levels of himself and the innate qualities of the materials collected. The endeavour is to coax a creative response which has a balance and a unity of its own.

After various solo and group shows around the country, he moved from London and set up his studio in Cornwall in 1990 and became a Member of the Penwith Society of Artists in St Ives and the Plymouth Society of Artists. He is a frequent exhibitor in the Royal Academy Summer Show and shows regularly with the Penwith Society of Artists and the Plymouth Museum Gallery.