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Lot Essay
Without from Within No. 1 is a wonderful example of Ivon Hitchens’ masterful filtering of the English countryside into his uniquely abstract pictorial language. Rendered on a monumental scale, the present work is painted looking out from within the artist’s home, onto the beach and sea of Selsey Bill, West Sussex. Hitchens had lived in Sussex for almost thirty years when he painted this work, and thus his handling of paint and palette so inspired by this constant exposure to the landscape is at its most lyrical and vibrant.
Hitchens once commented that ‘each painting should be a voyage of discovery - an expedition for the eye’ and this is certainly true with the present work (Ivon Hitchens quoted in Ivon Hitchens: Space through Colour, Chichester, Pallant House Gallery, 2019, p. 63). The beach and waves are reduced to ribbons of azure and terracotta, punctuated by sweeps of vacant canvas, demonstrating the freer, bolder brush-strokes and isolation of forms so characteristic of Hitchens’ later compositions. Indeed, during the 1960s and up until his death in 1979, the artist moved towards a greater abstraction than anything seen before, presenting a visual challenge for the viewer. Therefore, the rhythmically dispersed planes of colour offer an exploratory journey both to Hitchens and the viewer in turn.
Nevertheless, Hitchens successfully captures the equilibrium of nature as the essence of the painting’s subject. This ability is eloquently summarised by Alan Bowness: ‘The pictures themselves provide us with that same kind of spiritual refreshment that Nature herself provides’ (A. Bowness, Ivon Hitchens A Retrospective Exhibition, London, Arts Council of Great Britain, Tate Gallery, 1963, n.p.).
We are very grateful to John Hitchens for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.
Hitchens once commented that ‘each painting should be a voyage of discovery - an expedition for the eye’ and this is certainly true with the present work (Ivon Hitchens quoted in Ivon Hitchens: Space through Colour, Chichester, Pallant House Gallery, 2019, p. 63). The beach and waves are reduced to ribbons of azure and terracotta, punctuated by sweeps of vacant canvas, demonstrating the freer, bolder brush-strokes and isolation of forms so characteristic of Hitchens’ later compositions. Indeed, during the 1960s and up until his death in 1979, the artist moved towards a greater abstraction than anything seen before, presenting a visual challenge for the viewer. Therefore, the rhythmically dispersed planes of colour offer an exploratory journey both to Hitchens and the viewer in turn.
Nevertheless, Hitchens successfully captures the equilibrium of nature as the essence of the painting’s subject. This ability is eloquently summarised by Alan Bowness: ‘The pictures themselves provide us with that same kind of spiritual refreshment that Nature herself provides’ (A. Bowness, Ivon Hitchens A Retrospective Exhibition, London, Arts Council of Great Britain, Tate Gallery, 1963, n.p.).
We are very grateful to John Hitchens for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.