In his early career, Ivon Hitchens lived and worked from a studio in Hampstead, London, where he became part of a close circle of avant-garde artists including Ben Nicholson, Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth. He exhibited with the London Group from the early 1920s and later showed with the Seven and Five Society, aligning himself with the development of modern British painting between the wars.

Following the destruction of his Hampstead studio during the Second World War, Hitchens relocated in 1940 to Petworth in West Sussex, where he established a studio in woodland at Lavington Common. This setting became central to his work, providing a sustained engagement with landscape that informed his practice for the remainder of his career. He remained based in Sussex for the rest of his life, working in close proximity to the surrounding countryside.

Hitchens’ paintings, encompassing landscape, still life and the figure, are closely tied to direct observation. He worked predominantly out of doors, developing compositions through repeated studies and reworkings. His approach to colour and open brushwork has often been compared to that of Pierre Bonnard, while his early tonal handling reflects an awareness of Constable’s oil sketches. He was elected a member of the Royal Academy in 1951.