Ivon Hitchens (1893-1979)

1893 - 1979

Ivon Hitchens was born in London in 1893. He studied at St Johns Wood School of Art (1911-1912) and at the Royal Academy Schools on and off from 1912–1919. He started to exhibit in the 1920’s and joined the London Group in the 1930’s until the 1940’s, after which he exhibited independently. In 1920 he was the founding member of the Seven and Five Society and was the sole member to remain with it during the 16 years it existed until its closure in 1935. Other artist friends who joined the society were Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, John Piper, Cedric Morris, Ben & Winifred Nicholson and Christopher Wood. They were the driving force of Modern British Artists in 1930s and held an exhibition in 1934 showing entirely abstract art.

  Hitchens had many exhibitions throughout his career and his work was extremely prolific. He had his first one-man show in 1925 at the Mayor Gallery, in 1928 at Arthur Tooth & Sons, in 1933, 1935 and 1937 with Alex Reid & Lefevre, from 1940 the first of ten one-man shows with Leicester Galleries and from 1960 the first of 14 one-man shows with Waddington Galleries, where this work, “Sussex River, Evening Sky” is known to have been exhibited in 1975. One retrospective of his work was held in 1979 at the Royal Academy; numerous others have followed.

Ivon Hitchens reached a great turning point in his career in 1940 when his studio in Hampstead was destroyed by bomb damage. The previous year he ... show more

Ivon Hitchens was born in London in 1893. He studied at St Johns Wood School of Art (1911-1912) and at the Royal Academy Schools on and off from 1912–1919. He started to exhibit in the 1920’s and joined the London Group in the 1930’s until the 1940’s, after which he exhibited independently. In 1920 he was the founding member of the Seven and Five Society and was the sole member to remain with it during the 16 years it existed until its closure in 1935. Other artist friends who joined the society were Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, John Piper, Cedric Morris, Ben & Winifred Nicholson and Christopher Wood. They were the driving force of Modern British Artists in 1930s and held an exhibition in 1934 showing entirely abstract art.

  Hitchens had many exhibitions throughout his career and his work was extremely prolific. He had his first one-man show in 1925 at the Mayor Gallery, in 1928 at Arthur Tooth & Sons, in 1933, 1935 and 1937 with Alex Reid & Lefevre, from 1940 the first of ten one-man shows with Leicester Galleries and from 1960 the first of 14 one-man shows with Waddington Galleries, where this work, “Sussex River, Evening Sky” is known to have been exhibited in 1975. One retrospective of his work was held in 1979 at the Royal Academy; numerous others have followed.

Ivon Hitchens reached a great turning point in his career in 1940 when his studio in Hampstead was destroyed by bomb damage. The previous year he

had purchased six acres of Sussex woodland to have somewhere peaceful to paint outside London. He quickly left wartime London with his pianist wife, Mollie and young baby son, John, to live in cramped conditions in a red-painted gypsy caravan, towed on to their land near Petworth, by carthorses. Over time, buildings were erected on the land, a studio and a house called Greenleaves. They created a haphazard garden, planted sunflowers, poppies and dahlias in the sandy soil, were surrounded by semi-wild vegetation of silver birch, bracken and rhododendron from which Hitchens derived endless inspiration. The poppies featured frequently in his work for more than 40 years. Although Hitchens loved flowers and gardens, his son John says that he was “no gardener”. Each Spring, a local garden nursery, Ayling, near Midhurst, would plant up beds for Hitchens to paint to replace the blooms in his own haphazard garden. Although Hitchens ventured to Didling, Iping Common, Heyshott and Duncton, his main focus was on his own woodland garden at Greenleaves. He would paint outdoors, come rain or shine, often setting off with a wheelbarrow full of canvas, paint and equipment across hills and woodland.

He was profoundly influenced by Cezanne, Matisse and Braque and brought their lively palette tones to his British landscapes of the Sussex Downs, flower pieces and figurative works. He created a highly distinctive style, abstract, powerful images painted on a wide horizontal canvas format. Strong blocks of colour with large brushwork strokes. He refers to this format as his “Eye music compositions”. Hitchens said of his work “I seek to recreate the truth of nature by making my own song about it (in paint).” He said: “My pictures are to be listened to….not by a literal copying of objects but by combinations and juxtapositions of lines, forms, planes, tones, colours etc.” As his style evolved so did his palette colours. They changed from naturalistic browns and greens to more vivid mediterranean warmth of rich yellow, orange, red and azure blue.

In 1956 Ivon Hitchens represented Britain at the Venice Biennale. He created several large murals, notably at Nuffield College, Oxford in 1959 and the University of Sussex in 1963. In the last decade of Hitchens’ life, he spent more and more time at his coastal holiday cottage at Selsey, West Sussex. His works were now completely abstract but still the same subject matter of his beloved woodland, the Sussex Downs or floral compositions.

His work is held in many public and private collections, including the Tate Gallery, the Courtauld, the National Gallery of Scotland, the Hepworth Wakefield, Manchester Art Gallery and Museums. His work is much sought after and collected. Hitchens is considered a highly respected and influential Modern British artist who has contributed greatly to the appreciation of abstract art.

Ivon Hitchens died at Selsey in 1979. His son John, also an artist, still paints at the studio at Greenleaves and the caravan in the woods, still remains in situ.