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Tristram Hillier Paintings
Tristram Hillier trained at the Slade School in London under Henry Tonks in 1926, then in Paris at the Atelier Colarossi under André Lhote. In the 1930s he set up with other artists the group Unit One. Up to the outbreak of World War II he travelled extensively to Spain and Portugal (1935-1936) and France (1937-1940), painting scenes of sparsely populated villages under the bleaching sun and flat blue sky. He also met Braque and studied Velázquez and his use of the colour black, which is a strong influence on some of his still-lifes, such as Harness. Later he lived at East Pennard, Shepton Mallet in Somerset.
His work is characterised by a disquieting, almost surreal stillness and a meticulous, hard-edge technique, and is reminiscent of that of Edward Wadsworth, with whom he painted abroad. He exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy and at Arthur Tooth’s in London. He also published an autobiographical book, Leda and the Goose (1954).
Group Exhibitions
1949, Eleven British Artists, British Coucil exhibition touring Australia
Solo Exhibitions
1931, Lefevre Gallery, London (first solo exhibition)
1960, Worthing Art Gallery (retrospective)
1983, A Timeless Journey: Tristram Hillier, Bradford Art Galleries and Museums (travelling exhibition organised by the Royal Academy)
Museum and Gallery Holdings
Aberdeen (AG and Mus.): Slipway at Peniche (1948)
Edinburgh (Scottish Gal. of Modern Art): Pylons (1933, oil on canvas)
London (Tate Collection): Variation on the Form of an Anchor (1939, oil on canvas); Harness (1944, tempera on canvas)
Manchester (City AG): Le Havre de Grace (1939, oil on canvas); The War in Somerset (1943, oil on panel)
Ottawa (Nat. Gal. of Canada): The Road Accident (c. 1937-1940, oil on canvas); Fishing Craft at Étretat (1939, oil on canvas); The Bridle (1943, oil on canvas)
Oxford (Ashmolean Mus.): A Rose (oil on panel); Trott’s Lane (oil on panel)
Sydney (AG of New South Wales): Careening (1939, oil on canvas); Criquetot – L’Esneval (1945, oil on canvas); Trinity Wharf (1946, oil on canvas)
Tristram Hillier Paintings
