Ivon Hitchens (1893-1979)

Hitchens' handling of his flower pieces kept pace with his ever-developing interpretation of landscape. One has only to compare the relatively conservative treatment of Red Dahlias (20th Century British & Irish Art Day sale, lot 152) to see how far he had come in the thirty or more years that separate it from Deep Poppies.

There is a tremendous urgency about this painting. The challenge of capturing the poppies alive, before any of their petals dropped, is visible in the speed and boldness of the brush marks - not only in the summary notation of the poppies themselves - no time or opportunity for second thoughts here - but in the swirl and rush of what is going on around them. The three broad swipes of yellow-green momentarily pull one leftwards right out of the picture frame.

Deep Poppies was painted in the artist's eightieth year with a mastery hard won by sixty years' practice and constant development. The painting is as much about paint as it is about poppies.

P.K.