Reclining Nude

Ivon Hitchens studied at the Royal Academy Schools during the First World War, and in the 1920s and 30s he was one of a circle of artists living in Hampstead that included Barbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson, Henry Moore, Naum Gabo and Paul Nash.

Although best known for his landscapes, Hitchens also enjoyed painting the female nude. This work is loosely reminiscent of Matisse, with its odalisque subject matter, its use of bold colour and its simplified contours.

The sensuous oil paint emphasises the curving arabesque of the voluptuous female form. Hitchens believed that painting “is to do first and foremost with paint, not with illusionistic juggling. In a good painting one should get pleasure from the paint...”