Ivon Hitchens

Ivon Hitchens' vibrant paintings of his wild Sussex gardens will be celebrated at this exhibition.

Known for his semi-abstract, richly coloured landscape paintings, Hitchens (1893 – 1979) delighted in painting his seasonally changing habitat. Ivon Hitchens: The Painter in the Woods will focus on the works he produced after leaving London during World War Two, retreating into rural Sussex.

Hitchens found endless inspiration in his new haven, and this exhibition will include his Eye Music compositions, a term he coined for narrow, rectangular canvases with unfolding narratives as the eye "listens" to the painting. Hitchens himself noted in 1940, "I seek to recreate the truth of nature by making my own song about it (in paint)." The Eye Music series features meadows, flowers and woodlands depicted in lively fields of colour.