Hugo grenville - Findlay Galleries

Hugo grenvilleH A r M o n i A

Hugo GrenvilleIn the fall of last year I visited an exhibition in Paris entitled French Art 1937 - 1946.

In the middle of a huge display arranged across eight galleries of drawings, paintings

and sculptures charting the horrors of Fascism, Collaboration, and the Holocaust,

was a small room in which were hung two paintings by Bonnard, two by Matisse.

They were painted in 1942, when Nazi jackboots clattered down the Promenade

des Anglais, food was scarce, and the darkest of shadows lay across Europe. These

paintings made no reference to the turbulence and destruction of the War; instead,

they emanated peace, tranquility and quiet joy, a celebration of life found in the

beauty of small things: flowers, fruit, fabrics. They seemed to stand as an altar to

hopefulness in a world compromised by greed, violence and cruelty; concerned not

with the here and now, but with the grace and spirituality of eternity.

We live again in troubled times, but the paintings in this catalogue are inspired by the

belief that the recognition of beauty can be transformative, that we can be uplifted by

it, and that we can celebrate its sheer delight. There is both comfort and pleasure to

be found in the harmonies of colour and the balancing of shapes. The arrangement

of light, line, and the selection of different palettes, that work like the limitations

imposed by a key and time signature in music. They are tools to express a sense

of hopefulness and optimism, of contemplation and serenity. Most of the paintings

are born from my drawings and evoked from a combination of memory, observa-

tion and imagination. The use of gold leaf, inspired by early Renaissance painting

and Byzantine mosaics, prevents the literal depiction of an object and enhances the

sense of interpretation. Depending upon where the viewer stands, the light affects

the gold leaf differently, sometimes scintillating, sometimes restrained and dark, so

that the surface of the painting is always in motion, its mood flitting between the

contemplative and the joyful.

F i g u r e sThe arrangement of light, line, and the selection of different palettes,

that work like the limitations imposed by a key and time signature in

music, are tools to express a sense of hopefulness and optimism, of

contemplation and serenity.

WALLY FINDLAY GALLERIES INTERNATIONAL, INC. 165 WORTH AVENUE, PALM BEACH, FL 33480 • (561) 655 2090124 EAST 57t h STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10022 • (212) 421 5390

W W W.WA L LY F i N d L AY.C O M

Cor ne r o f th e S tud io, Au tumn Af t e r noon 36 x 34 inches Oi l on canvas

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In Re fl e c t i on , S tud io In t e r i o r, Mor n ing 48 x 54 inches Oi l on canvas

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Odal i sque 42 x 60 inches

Oil and gold leaf on canvas

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WALLY FINDLAY GALLERIES INTERNATIONAL, INC. 165 WORTH AVENUE, PALM BEACH FL, 33480 • (561) 655 2090124 EAST 57t h STREET, NEW YORK NY, 10022 • (212) 421 5390


Girl S i t t ing , Fad ing Ligh t , Au tumn Af t e r noon II 32 x 42 inches Oi l on canvas

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S t i l l L i f eThese paintings .... they emanated peace, tranquillity and quiet joy, a celebration

of life found in the beauty of small things: flowers, fruit, fabrics.



My Sur roga t e Fr i end 36 x 34 inches Oi l on canvas

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Au tumn Sp l endour 36 x 28 inches Oi l on canvas

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Summer Ev en ing on th e Medi t e r ranean 36 x 28 inches Oi l on canvas

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D r a w i n g sThe drawings shown here are the starting point for later paintings; I generally make several draw-

ings before I feel ready to start to paint. The intention of the drawing is to explore firstly the mood

of the subject, then to begin to work out the composition, that crucial division of pictorial space,

upon which the success of the painting depends. Sometimes I suggest thoughts about colour: al-

though these notes often change as I move from the drawing phase to the painting. But much of the

essence of the final work is expressed in the early drawings.



Arabe l la , Recl in ing Nude 21 x 28 inches

Charcoal and chalk on paper

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Study o f a Gi rl Read ing (d iptych) 25 x 25 inches


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Sl e e p ing Nude 21 x 27 inches


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Study fo r La Rêv e 21 1/2 x 28 inches

Penci l and charcoal on paper

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Hugo Grenville was born in 1958. Although he first exhibited in London at the Chelsea Arts Society at the age of 15, it took him another fourteen years to become a full time painter. After leaving school he trav-eled the Hippy Trail to India, ran out of money, joined the Coldstream Guards and served as an officer in Northern Ireland, West Africa and Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) during the Civil War, and finally as an Aide-de-Camp to C-in-C British Army of the Rhine, during which time he painted whenever possible, and studied part-time at Chelsea School of Art and Heatherley’s.

Working first in advertising and then as an art dealer, he finally sub-mitted to the need to paint full time in 1989. Since then he has held fourteen one-man Shows (including eight with Messum’s on Cork St and recently with Wally Findlay International in New York and Palm Beach) and has painted portraits of leading figures including the late Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Runcie, and the counter-tenor Michael Chance in the role of Orpheus at the ENO. He writes regularly for The Artist magazine, and lectures both in London and at his summer school on Colour and Twentieth Century Painting.

Working as an Official War Artist in Bosnia during the final phase of the Balkans War

Making a very large painting of the Tercentenary Celebrations at Chatsworth for the late Duke of Devonshire

Working at English National Opera with Counter-Tenor Michael Chance on a painting of Orpheus and Eurydice.

Producing a major Millenium picture of the casting process in an iron foundry for the Worshipful Company of Ironmongers

Commisions:

About the Artist:

One Man Shows

1991 New King’s Road Gallery1992 The Newbury: Featured Artist of Newbury Festival1992 Smith’s Gallery, London1994 Oliver Swann Gallery, London1995 Oliver Swann Gallery, London1995 China Club, Hong Kong1997 Messum’s, London1999 Messum’s, London2000 Messum’s, London2001 Messum’s, London

Group Shows

During the past 20 years he has exhibited at the Royal Society of British Artists, Royal Institute of Painters in Oil, Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour, the Arts Club and numerous other galleries including recently the Morningside Gallery in Edinburgh, Cricket Fine Art in London and Josie Eastwood Fine Art in Hampshire.

Exhibitions:

Work is represented in corporate, institutional and private collections in UK, USA, Canada, France, Hong Kong and Australia, including:

Edinburgh City CouncilThe Worshipful Company of IronmongersThe Ministry of DefenceThe China Club, Hong KongThe Tresco EstatePembroke ManagementThe Duke of DevonshireSearcy’sDuke’s Hotel, St James’sThe Earl of Verulam

2002 Messum’s, London2003 Messum’s, London2005 Messum’s, London2006 Wally Findlay Galleries International, New York2007 Josie Eastwood Fine Art, London2009 Wally Findlay Galleries International, Palm Beach2010 Josie Eastwood Fine Art, London2011 Wally Findlay Galleries Palm Beach2012 Medici Gallery, London

Collections:

For additional information and pricingplease contact the gallery

Palm Beach 561.655.2090New York 212 .421 .5390



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Hugo grenville - Findlay Galleries