John Hitchens
b. 1940
John Hitchens
John Hitchens (b.1940) is a British painter whose work moved from descriptive landscapes to abstract evocations of pattern and texture. Born in Sussex to the painter Ivon Hitchens, he studied at Bedales and at Bath Academy of Art, Corsham (1958–61). His first solo shows in the 1960s were at the Marjorie Parr Gallery, London.
In the 1960s he painted observed, representational landscapes, typically wide-sky, low-horizon views, using restrained colour and clear draughtsmanship. Later, his language shifted toward pared forms, earth pigments and an emphasis on surface rhythm; aerial photography informed the planiform structure of later works and led to shaped, layered canvases.
A major retrospective, Aspects of Landscape, was held at Southampton City Art Gallery in 2020, accompanied by a monograph. He continues to live and work near Petworth, West Sussex.
His work is held by major collections including Towner Eastbourne; Brighton & Hove Museums; Ferens Art Gallery, Hull; Bradford Museums and Galleries; Southampton City Art Gallery; the University of Chichester; and Oxford and Cambridge college collections.
Available
‘Hills Under Gathering Cloud’
£4,600
“A painter and polymath of most unusual, even extraordinary, register and range.”
“His art is full of quiet concentrated meaning, and rich in loyalty to life, loyalty to nature. He possesses a very particular responding power to landscapes and objects in landscapes.”