Oil on canvas, 16” x 30 ins (41cms x 76 cms)
studio stamp on reverse.
Prov. The artists studio and estate.
“Ivon Hitchens (1893-1979) is widely regarded as the outstanding English landscape painter of the twentieth century. Immediately recognisable by its daring yet subtle use of colour and brushmark to evoke the spirit of place, his work is to be found in public and private collections throughout the world.”
Words by Peter Khoroche, the foremost expert on Ivon Hitchens.
Iping is near Midhurst, West Sussex. Hitchens moved to Graffham , West Sussex during the war from London. At first he lived with his wife Molly and son John in a caravan on the plot of land he had purchased. There he painted for the rest of his life,creating the landscapes that secured his fame and importance as one of our most talented landscape painters. He was a prolific painter, however discarding many of his works. A plein air painter who would set up his easle in his surrounding woods outside his studio at a low angle, to pear over the top at his subject. he would draw in pencil in tiny bakerlite bound sketch books which would then be used as guides for his larger works.
Hitchens was a breath of fresh air to British landscape painting. Although there were many who were influenced by Hitchens , there are few successful followers, so his work stands alone.
The original caravan was extended into a house over the years and still stands today.
