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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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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
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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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
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
W W W.WA L LY F i N d L AY.C O M
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.
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
My Sur roga t e Fr i end 36 x 34 inches Oi l 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
W W W.WA L LY F i N d L AY.C O M
Au tumn Sp l endour 36 x 28 inches Oi l 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
W W W.WA L LY F i N d L AY.C O M
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.
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
Arabe l la , Recl in ing Nude 21 x 28 inches
Charcoal and chalk on paper
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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
W W W.WA L LY F i N d L AY.C O M
Study o f a Gi rl Read ing (d iptych) 25 x 25 inches
Charcoal and chalk on paper
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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
W W W.WA L LY F i N d L AY.C O M
Sl e e p ing Nude 21 x 27 inches
Charcoal and chalk on paper
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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
W W W.WA L LY F i N d L AY.C O M
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
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