Ivon Hitchens: An Artist's Collection
-
Overview
Ivon Hitchens was one of the most original British painters of the twentieth century. His landscapes are immediately recognisable for their long horizontal canvases, assured brushwork and extraordinary command of colour. Yet their enduring appeal lies in something less easily defined: the sense that a familiar place can be discovered anew each time we look at it.
An Artist’s Collection: Ivon Hitchens brings together five paintings held in a Private Collection since the late 1970s. Painted between the years 1942 to 1975, they follow Hitchens career from his early wartime landscapes in Sussex to the brilliant colour and greater freedom of his late work. Exclusively viewed together at House 50, Burlington Arcade after nearly fifty years in private hands, this spectacular collection offers a rare opportunity to consider the breadth of Hitchens’ achievement, and to make a part of this remarkable history one’s own.
That history begins with the collection’s owner, the landscape artist Kenneth Webb, whom Gladwell & Patterson have had the honour of representing for many decades. Kenneth had admired the work of Ivon Hitchens since the early years of his studies and his influence can be seen in his work in the mid 1970s, such as Field Poppies. The two first met at Hitchens’ 80th birthday party in 1973. A firm friendship was formed and both men would often meet and share their painting experiences, with Kenneth introducing Hitchens to the experimental aspects afforded by the use of acrylic paints.
-
-
-
Hitchens and Kenneth shared areas of commonality within their artistic approaches; their paintings were neither entirely abstract nor completely figurative and the immediate landscape of their surroundings was integral to their creativity. Hitchens’ inspiration was firmly rooted in the quiet and gentle life style of Petworth in the Sussex countryside and, whilst Kenneth’s connection to the Forest of Dean was the impetus for many of his landscapes inspired by Hitchens, Kenneth’s connection to Ireland and his delight in the primitive landscape of rock and desolate bog of the West of Ireland would inspire the unique approach of Kenneth’s later years.
These paintings therefore tell two stories at once: the development of Hitchens’ art and the enduring admiration of a fellow artist. Gladwell & Patterson’s association with Kenneth over many decades makes it a particular pleasure to present An Artist’s Collection: Ivon Hitchens at House 50, Burlington Arcade this October.
