David Jones, C.H. (1895-1974)

Jones loved the transparency of glass and used the device of looking through a window frequently in his work. In the 1920s and early 1930s, the Jones family rented the bungalow at No 5 Western Esplanade at Hove, or Portslade, as a holiday home for several months each year. A particular feature of the property was the verandah which looked out over the sea. Jones described the villas as being ‘built literally on the sea margin so that if the weather were at all rough, surf and spray broke on the seaward balconies.’ In this painting the framework of the glazed door becomes the pictorial structure, within which there is so much concentrated movement, colour and drama of the elements, that a ship moving across the sea becomes almost an afterthought. Perhaps because of the restless, lively quality of these seaside images, the paintings Jones made at Portslade were among those he liked best in later years.

A.L.