Alan Thornhill (1921–2020) - 1994 Acrylic View From Rustrel, Vancluse

Description

A dynamic and gestural oil landscape showing a view from Rustrel, a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. The artist has used a pastel toned palette to highlight the heat and dry land of the region in Summer. The artist has monogrammed and dated to the lower right corner. There is an inscription and signature at the reverse. On wove laid to board.

Condition

The condition is typical for a picture of this age including some discolouration and light surface dirt.

Size

34 x 53cm (13.4" x 20.9")

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Artist Biography

Born in London, he grew up in Fittleworth, West Sussex, attended Radley College, and then in 1939 went to New College, Oxford to read Modern History. In 1944 he returned to Oxford, having been exempted from military service as a conscientious objector. He obtained his degree, and spent a year in Italy based in Florence, teaching English at Pisa University. He then stayed six months in Oslo undergoing Reichian therapy, from which came the decision to try working with his hands.
In 1949 he was accepted for the pottery course at Camberwell School of Art under Dick Kendall and Nora Braden, followed by a year at Farnham under Henry Hammond and Paul Barron, before moving in 1951 to Eastcombe, Gloucestershire, where Hawkley Pottery was set up. In 1958, frustrated by the repetition involved in making and selling pots, he started to gravitate towards claywork and sculpture through friendship with established sculptors Lynn Chadwick and Jack Greaves. In 1959 he moved to London, having found a property in Putney which included a semi-derelict outbuilding that became his studio, which still exists. Latterly he was largely based near Stroud, Gloucestershire.

He first taught claywork at Kingston School of Art, Barking Regional College, Rush Green College of Further Education and then sculpture at Morley College, London between 1970 and 1987, and at the former Frink School of Sculpture where he was a founder trustee and with a later teaching role (1995–2001).
He was married to the painter Sheila Denning, with whom he set up Hawkley Pottery; the marriage ended in divorce.