- 19
Ivon Hitchens
Estimate
40,000 - 60,000 GBP
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Description
- Ivon Hitchens
- Green waters
- signed; also signed, titled, dated 1962 and inscribed with the artist's address on an artist's label attached to the stretcher
- oil on canvas
- 40.5 by 91.5cm.; 16 by 36in.
Provenance
The Leicester Galleries, London
Condition
Original canvas.
There are one or two tiny spots where thick spots of impasto appear to have been slightly chipped, including to a tiny fleck in the horiztonal line of purple grey pigment in the upper left quadrant, and to a tiny spot just to the right of the centre of the painting. There is a larger spot near the centre of the lower edge although this may be inherent to the painting. There are two tiny indentations near the left edge in the lower left quadrant, one of which appears to be an artist pin-hole which has been painted over.
Under ultraviolet light there appear to be no signs of retouching.
Held in a gilt composite frame with a faux-marble inset.
Please telephone the department on 0207 293 6424 if you have any questions about the present work.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
By avoiding a reliance on topography and detail, Hitchens' paintings evoke a sense of a peculiarly English landscape which exists not only in quiet corners of woodlands and by slow rivers, but in our own minds and memories. This striving for an essential and timeless quality within the landscape is very much in keeping with much of the wonderfully varied British art produced at the time which we now gather together under the catch-all umbrella of neo-romanticism.
Hitchens' remarkable capacity to render the sensation of a place was very much enhanced by his masterly ability to use his medium in a way that never disguises its actuality. Broad and heavily laden strokes of paint contrast with thin washes, whilst simple, almost calligraphic, flourishes provide the visual markers with which Hitchens defines the space of the painting. Indeed, Hitchens was very concerned with the underlying design of his paintings, and in the few sketches for paintings which have survived, some just as quick notations in letters, it is clear that his period of experimentation with abstraction in the mid-1930s was very important in helping to clarify his approach to pictorial composition.
Hitchens' remarkable capacity to render the sensation of a place was very much enhanced by his masterly ability to use his medium in a way that never disguises its actuality. Broad and heavily laden strokes of paint contrast with thin washes, whilst simple, almost calligraphic, flourishes provide the visual markers with which Hitchens defines the space of the painting. Indeed, Hitchens was very concerned with the underlying design of his paintings, and in the few sketches for paintings which have survived, some just as quick notations in letters, it is clear that his period of experimentation with abstraction in the mid-1930s was very important in helping to clarify his approach to pictorial composition.