Roger Hilton 1911-1975
Untitled June 1968, 1968
oil on canvas
24½ x 24½ ins


Provenance
David Hughes, London

Exhibited
Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol, Roger Hilton - Recent Paintings, 3 July-2 August, 1968



Hilton’s abstract paintings walk a tightrope between success and failure that few of his contemporaries could match. Schooled in the formal abstraction of post-war Paris, Hilton’s work employs a level of bravura which, when at its best, is truly stunning. Simplified forms which carry with them no implicit figurative references dive back and forth across the canvas, using only a gift for placement and paint manipulation to achieve their effect. Often incorporating a free charcoal under-drawing into the finished images and using the simplest of palettes, his paintings become images representative primarily of an emotional expression.

Whilst at first glance, this can appear to engender a relatively limited repertoire, one only need look at the failure of so many of his peers to achieve in their own abstract work the level of release seen in Hilton’s paintings to understand why for many he is considered one of the most consistently adventurous and talented artists of his generation.