Landscapes of the Mind: The Art of Tristram Hillier
This digital exhibition was created following a major retrospective at The Museum of Somerset that ran from 9 November 2019 to 18 April 2020. It brought together the largest collection of Hillier’s paintings to have been seen in more than thirty years.
Contains an image: A sandy beach is shown against a bright but cloudy sky. Between the sand and the sky is a thin strip of deep blue sea. A capsized piece of furniture lies on the sand. A wheel leans against its side and there is a pink cloth draped over. Behind is another piece of pink draped cloth, a boat and a white beach hut. In the foreground there is a large black anchor.
A Home in Somerset
For forty years Somerset was Tristram Hillier’s home and an inspiration for his painting
Contains an image: Three milk churns stand on the left of a road which leads to two men quarreling. One holds what could be a stick or a gun, the other leans on a pitch fork. Behind the churns is part of a roughly made fence with peeling posters, and a pile of loose stones. Agricultural buildings in the background, including a red brick farmhouse and grey stoned barns, indicate we are on farming land.
France
The Second World War marked a traumatic turning-point in Tristram Hillier’s life and career
Contains an image: A black sculptural mass of intertwining three-dimensional lines and circles is situated on a sandy beach. It is attached to a large black anchor by a thin rope which is looped through the holes of the sculpture. At the end of the rope is a red flag blowing in the wind. In the background is a ruined grey tower. There is a thin strip of deep blue sea behind the sculpture, below a blue sky with wispy white clouds.
Introduction
Discover Tristram Hillier's complex and remarkable artistic vision
Contains an image: At the centre of an empty square rises a cathedral with an ornate Renaissance exterior including two towers. To the left are the tower and external walls of a chapel. White housing with bright coloured doors (red, yellow, green), a red-and-white striped awning, and many windows are on the other side of the square to the chapel.
Making a Living
Tristram Hillier worked on commissions throughout his career In the 1930s Hillier created several paintings…
Contains an image: A sandy beach is dominated by a large vibrant yellow shipping propellor and water wheel. In the foreground is a large piece of draped brown material and a curving rope. Overlooking the scene is a traditional white, grey and black lighthouse with a brown front tour. A grey stone wall rises to the right with a smaller shipping propellor on top. Oars lean against the wall. In the background a traditional sailing boat travels across a choppy sea.
Object Lessons
Still life painting was a major feature of Tristram Hillier’s work
Contains an image: Four wrinkled and mottled red-green apples are pictured on top of a deep brown wooden shelf. The background is pitch black.
Spain and Portugal
Tristram Hillier regularly sought inspiration in Spain and Portugal
Contains an image: The painting is dominated by an ornate cream coloured Baroque chapel with beige detailing around the windows and on the two towers which rise on the left and right of the chapel. Steps lead to the red-pink doors. The sky is a clear warm blue. A small part of the church square is shown with three small figures. The view behind the chapel is of housing and mountains in the distance.
Starting Out
Tristram Hillier's early life encompassed China, rural Somerset and 1920s Paris
Contains an image: A warm mediterraean scene is dominated by slender high rise buildings painted in pastel pink and burnt yellow. The bottom half of the towers are obscured by a beige wall with an open gate. In the foreground a bare tree rises on the left, and a woman with a hat dressed in black sits to the right.
Unit One
By the age of thirty Tristram Hillier was recognised as a leading modernist artist
Contains an image:
This exhibition was supported by
