Hurricane

Hurricane is one of Swanzy's singular, imaginative works, filled with dramatic movement, and combining elements of danger with a fairy-tale quality. A violent storm rages, with a dark troubled sky, and lightening flashes. A building or a boat seems to collapse into a turquoise sea. In the centre of the picture is a copse of wiry trees shaken by the wind. In the middle of it a red fire is burning. In the foreground a naked youth, with spiky hair, holds his hands up to his forehead in agitation. The flecks of yellow in his hair are echoed by the hail of red flames in the wood behind. Rectangular objects, like coloured wooden blocks from a children's playground, fly through the air. As with many of Swanzy's later works the precise subject-matter remains enigmatic. It could represent a disturbing dream from her childhood, a comment on the upheaval of the Second World War, or a sense of personal distress.
J.C.