Mexican woman

Although known primarily as a painter of landscapes, nudes and figure studies had been part of Hitchens' work since 1928 and form a distinctive part of his oeuvre. A disciplined draughtsman, his figure paintings are always based on extensive studies both from antique casts and live models. The overriding importance though is always the composition and, as in his treatment of landscapes, colour is often used to suggest surface and volume, modelling the body in paint. Using a landscape canvas, the bodies are most often depicted reclining. A favourite device was to stop short at the ankles and miss out the feet, thus encouraging the eye to move along the body and into the 'sense of infinity' which lies beyond. Parallels are often drawn with Matisse, indeed it is interesting to note that the professional model who came to pose for Hitchens in 1948 had previously posed for Matisse.