Michael Hutchings (British, 1918-2020), 'Bantry Bay, County Cork'. Watercolour. Initialled and dated '65. Inscribed verso. 43 x 53cm.Biography and ProvenanceFaced with a choice between art and medicine as a career after serving in the Second World war, the late Michael Hutchings (1918-2020) became a pathologist, working in London hospitals. However, he never abandoned his first love, painting, and kept an active studio wherever he lived, spending most of his adult live in Barnes, in the south west of the capital.He was an extraordinarily long-lived artist, who witnessed arguably the greatest period of development in Western art across his lifetime. When he was born, Vorticism and Cubism had only recently emerged, and by the time he died, aged 101, we had entered the age of Conceptual art, video art, NFTs and Banksy.Hutchings' contribution to the exploration of painting can largely be summed up in a single word: Colour. For him it was not simply a filler to assist in the expression of form, it was the form itself.Now works from his studio will be offered for the first timein this dedicated auction.The title of the sale pays tribute to his driving belief that it was the artist's job to let the colour express itself: The Michael Hutchings Collection: Let The Colour Do The Drawing.Whether landscapes, portraits, character studies, abstracts and semi-abstracts, Hutchings' mastery of the palette led to the creation of vibrant compositions where line and form were strictly defined by the use of block colour and colour shade. As in nature, he found no need for separate outline.Having trained at Chelsea College of Art and The Slade, as well as the Open College of the Arts, for much of his life he developed his theories and style under his own steam.He used unusual colour combinations and tones to express mood and atmosphere in his paintings, showing how unexpected pairings across the spectrum could produce surprisingly effective results.The range of works in the sale illustrates his consistent mastery of this technique, which not only creates psychological and emotional studies of great depth and sophistication, but also results in some highly attractive and decorative pieces.Born in Frodsham, Cheshire, young Michael was a sensitive child who developed a stammer following an unexceptional, but for him traumatic, classroom experience. The incident gave an early insight into his unusual perception of the world around, which included a highly developed appreciation for natural beauty.It also led to him being treated by the renowned therapist Lionel Logue, celebrated as King George VI's specialist in the multi-Oscar-winning film The King's Speech. Hutchings became friends with Logue's son who visited him in later years.Having studied medicine at Liverpool University, Hutchings signed up for the Army Medical Corps, serving in Italy, Morocco and Austria during the Second World War. During this time, he continued his practice of painting and drawing wherever he went, sending home for materials as he travelled across Europe.It was when he returned from the war and enrolled at Chelsea College of Art and then The Slade that he faced arguably the hardest decision of his life: whether to pursue a career in art or medicine. It is thought family pressure directed him to the latter and that pathology may have allowed him to pursue a career out of the public eye in the quiet of the laboratory and so saved him from exposing his intermittent stammer any more than he needed to.Working first at Whipps Cross Hospital, where he met his future wife Kitty, he moved to St Charles's Hospital in Ladbroke Grove, specialising in haematology, with a particular interest in sickle cell disease.Despite this, art was omnipresent, and after also studying at Putney School of Art and the Open School of Art, he became a member of the Royal Academy and exhibited at a number of shows over the years, where he sold works and won several competitions."He was fairly private and kept his art private generally, but everybody he knew knew he painted," says his daughter Katherine. "If he had gone for art as a career, I think he could have made a name for himself."She recalls him telling the family that painting was his first love, and weekends were spent visiting the latest exhibition. He was especially keen on new developments in art and 'the latest thing'.So important was painting to him that he even chose his children's school, Dartington Hall, because of its devotion to teaching art, says Katherine."Even into his nineties he would take himself off on public transport to the Tate and continued buying paintings," she says. "He only stopped painting about seven or eight years before he died."Hutchings' longevity might have been, in part, the result of his fitness. Continuing to run marathons into his eighties, in his early seventies he came second for his age group in the London Marathon.His was an extraordinary life and he left behind a rich and accomplished body of work that is in this sale now we are privileged to be able to present now-."The volume, range and quality of the works in the sale present a real opportunity to establish an ongoing market for Michael Hutchings. He may not have been able to pursue his first love as a career during his lifetime, but his talent certainly deserves significant recognition now."
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Attributed Michael Hutchings. St Davids Head, Pembroke. Oil on canvas, titled verso. 57 x 73cm. Biography and ProvenanceFaced with a choice between art and medicine as a career after serving in the Second World war, the late Michael Hutchings (1918-2020) became a pathologist, working in London hospitals. However, he never abandoned his first love, painting, and kept an active studio wherever he lived, spending most of his adult live in Barnes, in the south west of the capital.He was an extraordinarily long-lived artist, who witnessed arguably the greatest period of development in Western art across his lifetime. When he was born, Vorticism and Cubism had only recently emerged, and by the time he died, aged 101, we had entered the age of Conceptual art, video art, NFTs and Banksy.Hutchings' contribution to the exploration of painting can largely be summed up in a single word: Colour. For him it was not simply a filler to assist in the expression of form, it was the form itself.Now works from his studio will be offered for the first timein this dedicated auction.The title of the sale pays tribute to his driving belief that it was the artist's job to let the colour express itself: The Michael Hutchings Collection: Let The Colour Do The Drawing.Whether landscapes, portraits, character studies, abstracts and semi-abstracts, Hutchings' mastery of the palette led to the creation of vibrant compositions where line and form were strictly defined by the use of block colour and colour shade. As in nature, he found no need for separate outline.Having trained at Chelsea College of Art and The Slade, as well as the Open College of the Arts, for much of his life he developed his theories and style under his own steam.He used unusual colour combinations and tones to express mood and atmosphere in his paintings, showing how unexpected pairings across the spectrum could produce surprisingly effective results.The range of works in the sale illustrates his consistent mastery of this technique, which not only creates psychological and emotional studies of great depth and sophistication, but also results in some highly attractive and decorative pieces.Born in Frodsham, Cheshire, young Michael was a sensitive child who developed a stammer following an unexceptional, but for him traumatic, classroom experience. The incident gave an early insight into his unusual perception of the world around, which included a highly developed appreciation for natural beauty.It also led to him being treated by the renowned therapist Lionel Logue, celebrated as King George VI's specialist in the multi-Oscar-winning film The King's Speech. Hutchings became friends with Logue's son who visited him in later years.Having studied medicine at Liverpool University, Hutchings signed up for the Army Medical Corps, serving in Italy, Morocco and Austria during the Second World War. During this time, he continued his practice of painting and drawing wherever he went, sending home for materials as he travelled across Europe.It was when he returned from the war and enrolled at Chelsea College of Art and then The Slade that he faced arguably the hardest decision of his life: whether to pursue a career in art or medicine. It is thought family pressure directed him to the latter and that pathology may have allowed him to pursue a career out of the public eye in the quiet of the laboratory and so saved him from exposing his intermittent stammer any more than he needed to.Working first at Whipps Cross Hospital, where he met his future wife Kitty, he moved to St Charles's Hospital in Ladbroke Grove, specialising in haematology, with a particular interest in sickle cell disease.Despite this, art was omnipresent, and after also studying at Putney School of Art and the Open School of Art, he became a member of the Royal Academy and exhibited at a number of shows over the years, where he sold works and won several competitions."He was fairly private and kept his art private generally, but everybody he knew knew he painted," says his daughter Katherine. "If he had gone for art as a career, I think he could have made a name for himself."She recalls him telling the family that painting was his first love, and weekends were spent visiting the latest exhibition. He was especially keen on new developments in art and 'the latest thing'.So important was painting to him that he even chose his children's school, Dartington Hall, because of its devotion to teaching art, says Katherine."Even into his nineties he would take himself off on public transport to the Tate and continued buying paintings," she says. "He only stopped painting about seven or eight years before he died."Hutchings' longevity might have been, in part, the result of his fitness. Continuing to run marathons into his eighties, in his early seventies he came second for his age group in the London Marathon.His was an extraordinary life and he left behind a rich and accomplished body of work that is in this sale now we are privileged to be able to present now-."The volume, range and quality of the works in the sale present a real opportunity to establish an ongoing market for Michael Hutchings. He may not have been able to pursue his first love as a career during his lifetime, but his talent certainly deserves significant recognition now."
Fara? Continental cottages on the Coast. Oil on canvas, signed indistinctly lower right. 59 x 85cm. Biography and ProvenanceFaced with a choice between art and medicine as a career after serving in the Second World war, the late Michael Hutchings (1918-2020) became a pathologist, working in London hospitals. However, he never abandoned his first love, painting, and kept an active studio wherever he lived, spending most of his adult live in Barnes, in the south west of the capital.He was an extraordinarily long-lived artist, who witnessed arguably the greatest period of development in Western art across his lifetime. When he was born, Vorticism and Cubism had only recently emerged, and by the time he died, aged 101, we had entered the age of Conceptual art, video art, NFTs and Banksy.Hutchings' contribution to the exploration of painting can largely be summed up in a single word: Colour. For him it was not simply a filler to assist in the expression of form, it was the form itself.Now works from his studio will be offered for the first timein this dedicated auction.The title of the sale pays tribute to his driving belief that it was the artist's job to let the colour express itself: The Michael Hutchings Collection: Let The Colour Do The Drawing.Whether landscapes, portraits, character studies, abstracts and semi-abstracts, Hutchings' mastery of the palette led to the creation of vibrant compositions where line and form were strictly defined by the use of block colour and colour shade. As in nature, he found no need for separate outline.Having trained at Chelsea College of Art and The Slade, as well as the Open College of the Arts, for much of his life he developed his theories and style under his own steam.He used unusual colour combinations and tones to express mood and atmosphere in his paintings, showing how unexpected pairings across the spectrum could produce surprisingly effective results.The range of works in the sale illustrates his consistent mastery of this technique, which not only creates psychological and emotional studies of great depth and sophistication, but also results in some highly attractive and decorative pieces.Born in Frodsham, Cheshire, young Michael was a sensitive child who developed a stammer following an unexceptional, but for him traumatic, classroom experience. The incident gave an early insight into his unusual perception of the world around, which included a highly developed appreciation for natural beauty.It also led to him being treated by the renowned therapist Lionel Logue, celebrated as King George VI's specialist in the multi-Oscar-winning film The King's Speech. Hutchings became friends with Logue's son who visited him in later years.Having studied medicine at Liverpool University, Hutchings signed up for the Army Medical Corps, serving in Italy, Morocco and Austria during the Second World War. During this time, he continued his practice of painting and drawing wherever he went, sending home for materials as he travelled across Europe.It was when he returned from the war and enrolled at Chelsea College of Art and then The Slade that he faced arguably the hardest decision of his life: whether to pursue a career in art or medicine. It is thought family pressure directed him to the latter and that pathology may have allowed him to pursue a career out of the public eye in the quiet of the laboratory and so saved him from exposing his intermittent stammer any more than he needed to.Working first at Whipps Cross Hospital, where he met his future wife Kitty, he moved to St Charles's Hospital in Ladbroke Grove, specialising in haematology, with a particular interest in sickle cell disease.Despite this, art was omnipresent, and after also studying at Putney School of Art and the Open School of Art, he became a member of the Royal Academy and exhibited at a number of shows over the years, where he sold works and won several competitions."He was fairly private and kept his art private generally, but everybody he knew knew he painted," says his daughter Katherine. "If he had gone for art as a career, I think he could have made a name for himself."She recalls him telling the family that painting was his first love, and weekends were spent visiting the latest exhibition. He was especially keen on new developments in art and 'the latest thing'.So important was painting to him that he even chose his children's school, Dartington Hall, because of its devotion to teaching art, says Katherine."Even into his nineties he would take himself off on public transport to the Tate and continued buying paintings," she says. "He only stopped painting about seven or eight years before he died."Hutchings' longevity might have been, in part, the result of his fitness. Continuing to run marathons into his eighties, in his early seventies he came second for his age group in the London Marathon.His was an extraordinary life and he left behind a rich and accomplished body of work that is in this sale now we are privileged to be able to present now-."The volume, range and quality of the works in the sale present a real opportunity to establish an ongoing market for Michael Hutchings. He may not have been able to pursue his first love as a career during his lifetime, but his talent certainly deserves significant recognition now."
Arthur William Hutchings (father of Michael), Townscape with Tudor Cottage, watercolour signed with monogram. 44 x 56cm. Together with another by the same hand depicting a bridge in a mountain landscape. (2). Biography and ProvenanceFaced with a choice between art and medicine as a career after serving in the Second World war, the late Michael Hutchings (1918-2020) became a pathologist, working in London hospitals. However, he never abandoned his first love, painting, and kept an active studio wherever he lived, spending most of his adult live in Barnes, in the south west of the capital.He was an extraordinarily long-lived artist, who witnessed arguably the greatest period of development in Western art across his lifetime. When he was born, Vorticism and Cubism had only recently emerged, and by the time he died, aged 101, we had entered the age of Conceptual art, video art, NFTs and Banksy.Hutchings' contribution to the exploration of painting can largely be summed up in a single word: Colour. For him it was not simply a filler to assist in the expression of form, it was the form itself.Now works from his studio will be offered for the first timein this dedicated auction.The title of the sale pays tribute to his driving belief that it was the artist's job to let the colour express itself: The Michael Hutchings Collection: Let The Colour Do The Drawing.Whether landscapes, portraits, character studies, abstracts and semi-abstracts, Hutchings' mastery of the palette led to the creation of vibrant compositions where line and form were strictly defined by the use of block colour and colour shade. As in nature, he found no need for separate outline.Having trained at Chelsea College of Art and The Slade, as well as the Open College of the Arts, for much of his life he developed his theories and style under his own steam.He used unusual colour combinations and tones to express mood and atmosphere in his paintings, showing how unexpected pairings across the spectrum could produce surprisingly effective results.The range of works in the sale illustrates his consistent mastery of this technique, which not only creates psychological and emotional studies of great depth and sophistication, but also results in some highly attractive and decorative pieces.Born in Frodsham, Cheshire, young Michael was a sensitive child who developed a stammer following an unexceptional, but for him traumatic, classroom experience. The incident gave an early insight into his unusual perception of the world around, which included a highly developed appreciation for natural beauty.It also led to him being treated by the renowned therapist Lionel Logue, celebrated as King George VI's specialist in the multi-Oscar-winning film The King's Speech. Hutchings became friends with Logue's son who visited him in later years.Having studied medicine at Liverpool University, Hutchings signed up for the Army Medical Corps, serving in Italy, Morocco and Austria during the Second World War. During this time, he continued his practice of painting and drawing wherever he went, sending home for materials as he travelled across Europe.It was when he returned from the war and enrolled at Chelsea College of Art and then The Slade that he faced arguably the hardest decision of his life: whether to pursue a career in art or medicine. It is thought family pressure directed him to the latter and that pathology may have allowed him to pursue a career out of the public eye in the quiet of the laboratory and so saved him from exposing his intermittent stammer any more than he needed to.Working first at Whipps Cross Hospital, where he met his future wife Kitty, he moved to St Charles's Hospital in Ladbroke Grove, specialising in haematology, with a particular interest in sickle cell disease.Despite this, art was omnipresent, and after also studying at Putney School of Art and the Open School of Art, he became a member of the Royal Academy and exhibited at a number of shows over the years, where he sold works and won several competitions."He was fairly private and kept his art private generally, but everybody he knew knew he painted," says his daughter Katherine. "If he had gone for art as a career, I think he could have made a name for himself."She recalls him telling the family that painting was his first love, and weekends were spent visiting the latest exhibition. He was especially keen on new developments in art and 'the latest thing'.So important was painting to him that he even chose his children's school, Dartington Hall, because of its devotion to teaching art, says Katherine."Even into his nineties he would take himself off on public transport to the Tate and continued buying paintings," she says. "He only stopped painting about seven or eight years before he died."Hutchings' longevity might have been, in part, the result of his fitness. Continuing to run marathons into his eighties, in his early seventies he came second for his age group in the London Marathon.His was an extraordinary life and he left behind a rich and accomplished body of work that is in this sale now we are privileged to be able to present now-."The volume, range and quality of the works in the sale present a real opportunity to establish an ongoing market for Michael Hutchings. He may not have been able to pursue his first love as a career during his lifetime, but his talent certainly deserves significant recognition now."
AS. Street scene, oil on board. Signed with monogram. 31 x 36cm. Biography and ProvenanceFaced with a choice between art and medicine as a career after serving in the Second World war, the late Michael Hutchings (1918-2020) became a pathologist, working in London hospitals. However, he never abandoned his first love, painting, and kept an active studio wherever he lived, spending most of his adult live in Barnes, in the south west of the capital.He was an extraordinarily long-lived artist, who witnessed arguably the greatest period of development in Western art across his lifetime. When he was born, Vorticism and Cubism had only recently emerged, and by the time he died, aged 101, we had entered the age of Conceptual art, video art, NFTs and Banksy.Hutchings' contribution to the exploration of painting can largely be summed up in a single word: Colour. For him it was not simply a filler to assist in the expression of form, it was the form itself.Now works from his studio will be offered for the first timein this dedicated auction.The title of the sale pays tribute to his driving belief that it was the artist's job to let the colour express itself: The Michael Hutchings Collection: Let The Colour Do The Drawing.Whether landscapes, portraits, character studies, abstracts and semi-abstracts, Hutchings' mastery of the palette led to the creation of vibrant compositions where line and form were strictly defined by the use of block colour and colour shade. As in nature, he found no need for separate outline.Having trained at Chelsea College of Art and The Slade, as well as the Open College of the Arts, for much of his life he developed his theories and style under his own steam.He used unusual colour combinations and tones to express mood and atmosphere in his paintings, showing how unexpected pairings across the spectrum could produce surprisingly effective results.The range of works in the sale illustrates his consistent mastery of this technique, which not only creates psychological and emotional studies of great depth and sophistication, but also results in some highly attractive and decorative pieces.Born in Frodsham, Cheshire, young Michael was a sensitive child who developed a stammer following an unexceptional, but for him traumatic, classroom experience. The incident gave an early insight into his unusual perception of the world around, which included a highly developed appreciation for natural beauty.It also led to him being treated by the renowned therapist Lionel Logue, celebrated as King George VI's specialist in the multi-Oscar-winning film The King's Speech. Hutchings became friends with Logue's son who visited him in later years.Having studied medicine at Liverpool University, Hutchings signed up for the Army Medical Corps, serving in Italy, Morocco and Austria during the Second World War. During this time, he continued his practice of painting and drawing wherever he went, sending home for materials as he travelled across Europe.It was when he returned from the war and enrolled at Chelsea College of Art and then The Slade that he faced arguably the hardest decision of his life: whether to pursue a career in art or medicine. It is thought family pressure directed him to the latter and that pathology may have allowed him to pursue a career out of the public eye in the quiet of the laboratory and so saved him from exposing his intermittent stammer any more than he needed to.Working first at Whipps Cross Hospital, where he met his future wife Kitty, he moved to St Charles's Hospital in Ladbroke Grove, specialising in haematology, with a particular interest in sickle cell disease.Despite this, art was omnipresent, and after also studying at Putney School of Art and the Open School of Art, he became a member of the Royal Academy and exhibited at a number of shows over the years, where he sold works and won several competitions."He was fairly private and kept his art private generally, but everybody he knew knew he painted," says his daughter Katherine. "If he had gone for art as a career, I think he could have made a name for himself."She recalls him telling the family that painting was his first love, and weekends were spent visiting the latest exhibition. He was especially keen on new developments in art and 'the latest thing'.So important was painting to him that he even chose his children's school, Dartington Hall, because of its devotion to teaching art, says Katherine."Even into his nineties he would take himself off on public transport to the Tate and continued buying paintings," she says. "He only stopped painting about seven or eight years before he died."Hutchings' longevity might have been, in part, the result of his fitness. Continuing to run marathons into his eighties, in his early seventies he came second for his age group in the London Marathon.His was an extraordinary life and he left behind a rich and accomplished body of work that is in this sale now we are privileged to be able to present now-."The volume, range and quality of the works in the sale present a real opportunity to establish an ongoing market for Michael Hutchings. He may not have been able to pursue his first love as a career during his lifetime, but his talent certainly deserves significant recognition now."
Michael Hutchings (1918-2020). Seven small sketchbooks containing figure studies, landscapes and personal notes. Biography and ProvenanceFaced with a choice between art and medicine as a career after serving in the Second World war, the late Michael Hutchings (1918-2020) became a pathologist, working in London hospitals. However, he never abandoned his first love, painting, and kept an active studio wherever he lived, spending most of his adult live in Barnes, in the south west of the capital.He was an extraordinarily long-lived artist, who witnessed arguably the greatest period of development in Western art across his lifetime. When he was born, Vorticism and Cubism had only recently emerged, and by the time he died, aged 101, we had entered the age of Conceptual art, video art, NFTs and Banksy.Hutchings' contribution to the exploration of painting can largely be summed up in a single word: Colour. For him it was not simply a filler to assist in the expression of form, it was the form itself.Now works from his studio will be offered for the first timein this dedicated auction.The title of the sale pays tribute to his driving belief that it was the artist's job to let the colour express itself: The Michael Hutchings Collection: Let The Colour Do The Drawing.Whether landscapes, portraits, character studies, abstracts and semi-abstracts, Hutchings' mastery of the palette led to the creation of vibrant compositions where line and form were strictly defined by the use of block colour and colour shade. As in nature, he found no need for separate outline.Having trained at Chelsea College of Art and The Slade, as well as the Open College of the Arts, for much of his life he developed his theories and style under his own steam.He used unusual colour combinations and tones to express mood and atmosphere in his paintings, showing how unexpected pairings across the spectrum could produce surprisingly effective results.The range of works in the sale illustrates his consistent mastery of this technique, which not only creates psychological and emotional studies of great depth and sophistication, but also results in some highly attractive and decorative pieces.Born in Frodsham, Cheshire, young Michael was a sensitive child who developed a stammer following an unexceptional, but for him traumatic, classroom experience. The incident gave an early insight into his unusual perception of the world around, which included a highly developed appreciation for natural beauty.It also led to him being treated by the renowned therapist Lionel Logue, celebrated as King George VI's specialist in the multi-Oscar-winning film The King's Speech. Hutchings became friends with Logue's son who visited him in later years.Having studied medicine at Liverpool University, Hutchings signed up for the Army Medical Corps, serving in Italy, Morocco and Austria during the Second World War. During this time, he continued his practice of painting and drawing wherever he went, sending home for materials as he travelled across Europe.It was when he returned from the war and enrolled at Chelsea College of Art and then The Slade that he faced arguably the hardest decision of his life: whether to pursue a career in art or medicine. It is thought family pressure directed him to the latter and that pathology may have allowed him to pursue a career out of the public eye in the quiet of the laboratory and so saved him from exposing his intermittent stammer any more than he needed to.Working first at Whipps Cross Hospital, where he met his future wife Kitty, he moved to St Charles's Hospital in Ladbroke Grove, specialising in haematology, with a particular interest in sickle cell disease.Despite this, art was omnipresent, and after also studying at Putney School of Art and the Open School of Art, he became a member of the Royal Academy and exhibited at a number of shows over the years, where he sold works and won several competitions."He was fairly private and kept his art private generally, but everybody he knew knew he painted," says his daughter Katherine. "If he had gone for art as a career, I think he could have made a name for himself."She recalls him telling the family that painting was his first love, and weekends were spent visiting the latest exhibition. He was especially keen on new developments in art and 'the latest thing'.So important was painting to him that he even chose his children's school, Dartington Hall, because of its devotion to teaching art, says Katherine."Even into his nineties he would take himself off on public transport to the Tate and continued buying paintings," she says. "He only stopped painting about seven or eight years before he died."Hutchings' longevity might have been, in part, the result of his fitness. Continuing to run marathons into his eighties, in his early seventies he came second for his age group in the London Marathon.His was an extraordinary life and he left behind a rich and accomplished body of work that is in this sale now we are privileged to be able to present now-."The volume, range and quality of the works in the sale present a real opportunity to establish an ongoing market for Michael Hutchings. He may not have been able to pursue his first love as a career during his lifetime, but his talent certainly deserves significant recognition now."
Alexander Hodgkinson (1912-1984). Light in a Dark Place. Oil on canvas, inscribed verso with artists name and title. 41 x 51cm. Biography and ProvenanceFaced with a choice between art and medicine as a career after serving in the Second World war, the late Michael Hutchings (1918-2020) became a pathologist, working in London hospitals. However, he never abandoned his first love, painting, and kept an active studio wherever he lived, spending most of his adult live in Barnes, in the south west of the capital.He was an extraordinarily long-lived artist, who witnessed arguably the greatest period of development in Western art across his lifetime. When he was born, Vorticism and Cubism had only recently emerged, and by the time he died, aged 101, we had entered the age of Conceptual art, video art, NFTs and Banksy.Hutchings' contribution to the exploration of painting can largely be summed up in a single word: Colour. For him it was not simply a filler to assist in the expression of form, it was the form itself.Now works from his studio will be offered for the first timein this dedicated auction.The title of the sale pays tribute to his driving belief that it was the artist's job to let the colour express itself: The Michael Hutchings Collection: Let The Colour Do The Drawing.Whether landscapes, portraits, character studies, abstracts and semi-abstracts, Hutchings' mastery of the palette led to the creation of vibrant compositions where line and form were strictly defined by the use of block colour and colour shade. As in nature, he found no need for separate outline.Having trained at Chelsea College of Art and The Slade, as well as the Open College of the Arts, for much of his life he developed his theories and style under his own steam.He used unusual colour combinations and tones to express mood and atmosphere in his paintings, showing how unexpected pairings across the spectrum could produce surprisingly effective results.The range of works in the sale illustrates his consistent mastery of this technique, which not only creates psychological and emotional studies of great depth and sophistication, but also results in some highly attractive and decorative pieces.Born in Frodsham, Cheshire, young Michael was a sensitive child who developed a stammer following an unexceptional, but for him traumatic, classroom experience. The incident gave an early insight into his unusual perception of the world around, which included a highly developed appreciation for natural beauty.It also led to him being treated by the renowned therapist Lionel Logue, celebrated as King George VI's specialist in the multi-Oscar-winning film The King's Speech. Hutchings became friends with Logue's son who visited him in later years.Having studied medicine at Liverpool University, Hutchings signed up for the Army Medical Corps, serving in Italy, Morocco and Austria during the Second World War. During this time, he continued his practice of painting and drawing wherever he went, sending home for materials as he travelled across Europe.It was when he returned from the war and enrolled at Chelsea College of Art and then The Slade that he faced arguably the hardest decision of his life: whether to pursue a career in art or medicine. It is thought family pressure directed him to the latter and that pathology may have allowed him to pursue a career out of the public eye in the quiet of the laboratory and so saved him from exposing his intermittent stammer any more than he needed to.Working first at Whipps Cross Hospital, where he met his future wife Kitty, he moved to St Charles's Hospital in Ladbroke Grove, specialising in haematology, with a particular interest in sickle cell disease.Despite this, art was omnipresent, and after also studying at Putney School of Art and the Open School of Art, he became a member of the Royal Academy and exhibited at a number of shows over the years, where he sold works and won several competitions."He was fairly private and kept his art private generally, but everybody he knew knew he painted," says his daughter Katherine. "If he had gone for art as a career, I think he could have made a name for himself."She recalls him telling the family that painting was his first love, and weekends were spent visiting the latest exhibition. He was especially keen on new developments in art and 'the latest thing'.So important was painting to him that he even chose his children's school, Dartington Hall, because of its devotion to teaching art, says Katherine."Even into his nineties he would take himself off on public transport to the Tate and continued buying paintings," she says. "He only stopped painting about seven or eight years before he died."Hutchings' longevity might have been, in part, the result of his fitness. Continuing to run marathons into his eighties, in his early seventies he came second for his age group in the London Marathon.His was an extraordinary life and he left behind a rich and accomplished body of work that is in this sale now we are privileged to be able to present now-."The volume, range and quality of the works in the sale present a real opportunity to establish an ongoing market for Michael Hutchings. He may not have been able to pursue his first love as a career during his lifetime, but his talent certainly deserves significant recognition now."
Helen Pennell (20th century). Scilly Isles. Pastel, signed and titled to the mount. 43 x 51cm.Biography and ProvenanceFaced with a choice between art and medicine as a career after serving in the Second World war, the late Michael Hutchings (1918-2020) became a pathologist, working in London hospitals. However, he never abandoned his first love, painting, and kept an active studio wherever he lived, spending most of his adult live in Barnes, in the south west of the capital.He was an extraordinarily long-lived artist, who witnessed arguably the greatest period of development in Western art across his lifetime. When he was born, Vorticism and Cubism had only recently emerged, and by the time he died, aged 101, we had entered the age of Conceptual art, video art, NFTs and Banksy.Hutchings' contribution to the exploration of painting can largely be summed up in a single word: Colour. For him it was not simply a filler to assist in the expression of form, it was the form itself.Now works from his studio will be offered for the first timein this dedicated auction.The title of the sale pays tribute to his driving belief that it was the artist's job to let the colour express itself: The Michael Hutchings Collection: Let The Colour Do The Drawing.Whether landscapes, portraits, character studies, abstracts and semi-abstracts, Hutchings' mastery of the palette led to the creation of vibrant compositions where line and form were strictly defined by the use of block colour and colour shade. As in nature, he found no need for separate outline.Having trained at Chelsea College of Art and The Slade, as well as the Open College of the Arts, for much of his life he developed his theories and style under his own steam.He used unusual colour combinations and tones to express mood and atmosphere in his paintings, showing how unexpected pairings across the spectrum could produce surprisingly effective results.The range of works in the sale illustrates his consistent mastery of this technique, which not only creates psychological and emotional studies of great depth and sophistication, but also results in some highly attractive and decorative pieces.Born in Frodsham, Cheshire, young Michael was a sensitive child who developed a stammer following an unexceptional, but for him traumatic, classroom experience. The incident gave an early insight into his unusual perception of the world around, which included a highly developed appreciation for natural beauty.It also led to him being treated by the renowned therapist Lionel Logue, celebrated as King George VI's specialist in the multi-Oscar-winning film The King's Speech. Hutchings became friends with Logue's son who visited him in later years.Having studied medicine at Liverpool University, Hutchings signed up for the Army Medical Corps, serving in Italy, Morocco and Austria during the Second World War. During this time, he continued his practice of painting and drawing wherever he went, sending home for materials as he travelled across Europe.It was when he returned from the war and enrolled at Chelsea College of Art and then The Slade that he faced arguably the hardest decision of his life: whether to pursue a career in art or medicine. It is thought family pressure directed him to the latter and that pathology may have allowed him to pursue a career out of the public eye in the quiet of the laboratory and so saved him from exposing his intermittent stammer any more than he needed to.Working first at Whipps Cross Hospital, where he met his future wife Kitty, he moved to St Charles's Hospital in Ladbroke Grove, specialising in haematology, with a particular interest in sickle cell disease.Despite this, art was omnipresent, and after also studying at Putney School of Art and the Open School of Art, he became a member of the Royal Academy and exhibited at a number of shows over the years, where he sold works and won several competitions."He was fairly private and kept his art private generally, but everybody he knew knew he painted," says his daughter Katherine. "If he had gone for art as a career, I think he could have made a name for himself."She recalls him telling the family that painting was his first love, and weekends were spent visiting the latest exhibition. He was especially keen on new developments in art and 'the latest thing'.So important was painting to him that he even chose his children's school, Dartington Hall, because of its devotion to teaching art, says Katherine."Even into his nineties he would take himself off on public transport to the Tate and continued buying paintings," she says. "He only stopped painting about seven or eight years before he died."Hutchings' longevity might have been, in part, the result of his fitness. Continuing to run marathons into his eighties, in his early seventies he came second for his age group in the London Marathon.His was an extraordinary life and he left behind a rich and accomplished body of work that is in this sale now we are privileged to be able to present now-."The volume, range and quality of the works in the sale present a real opportunity to establish an ongoing market for Michael Hutchings. He may not have been able to pursue his first love as a career during his lifetime, but his talent certainly deserves significant recognition now."
Alexander Hodgkinson (1912-1984). View in Rome. Watercolour, signed lower and right and verso. 46 x 56cm. Biography and ProvenanceFaced with a choice between art and medicine as a career after serving in the Second World war, the late Michael Hutchings (1918-2020) became a pathologist, working in London hospitals. However, he never abandoned his first love, painting, and kept an active studio wherever he lived, spending most of his adult live in Barnes, in the south west of the capital.He was an extraordinarily long-lived artist, who witnessed arguably the greatest period of development in Western art across his lifetime. When he was born, Vorticism and Cubism had only recently emerged, and by the time he died, aged 101, we had entered the age of Conceptual art, video art, NFTs and Banksy.Hutchings' contribution to the exploration of painting can largely be summed up in a single word: Colour. For him it was not simply a filler to assist in the expression of form, it was the form itself.Now works from his studio will be offered for the first timein this dedicated auction.The title of the sale pays tribute to his driving belief that it was the artist's job to let the colour express itself: The Michael Hutchings Collection: Let The Colour Do The Drawing.Whether landscapes, portraits, character studies, abstracts and semi-abstracts, Hutchings' mastery of the palette led to the creation of vibrant compositions where line and form were strictly defined by the use of block colour and colour shade. As in nature, he found no need for separate outline.Having trained at Chelsea College of Art and The Slade, as well as the Open College of the Arts, for much of his life he developed his theories and style under his own steam.He used unusual colour combinations and tones to express mood and atmosphere in his paintings, showing how unexpected pairings across the spectrum could produce surprisingly effective results.The range of works in the sale illustrates his consistent mastery of this technique, which not only creates psychological and emotional studies of great depth and sophistication, but also results in some highly attractive and decorative pieces.Born in Frodsham, Cheshire, young Michael was a sensitive child who developed a stammer following an unexceptional, but for him traumatic, classroom experience. The incident gave an early insight into his unusual perception of the world around, which included a highly developed appreciation for natural beauty.It also led to him being treated by the renowned therapist Lionel Logue, celebrated as King George VI's specialist in the multi-Oscar-winning film The King's Speech. Hutchings became friends with Logue's son who visited him in later years.Having studied medicine at Liverpool University, Hutchings signed up for the Army Medical Corps, serving in Italy, Morocco and Austria during the Second World War. During this time, he continued his practice of painting and drawing wherever he went, sending home for materials as he travelled across Europe.It was when he returned from the war and enrolled at Chelsea College of Art and then The Slade that he faced arguably the hardest decision of his life: whether to pursue a career in art or medicine. It is thought family pressure directed him to the latter and that pathology may have allowed him to pursue a career out of the public eye in the quiet of the laboratory and so saved him from exposing his intermittent stammer any more than he needed to.Working first at Whipps Cross Hospital, where he met his future wife Kitty, he moved to St Charles's Hospital in Ladbroke Grove, specialising in haematology, with a particular interest in sickle cell disease.Despite this, art was omnipresent, and after also studying at Putney School of Art and the Open School of Art, he became a member of the Royal Academy and exhibited at a number of shows over the years, where he sold works and won several competitions."He was fairly private and kept his art private generally, but everybody he knew knew he painted," says his daughter Katherine. "If he had gone for art as a career, I think he could have made a name for himself."She recalls him telling the family that painting was his first love, and weekends were spent visiting the latest exhibition. He was especially keen on new developments in art and 'the latest thing'.So important was painting to him that he even chose his children's school, Dartington Hall, because of its devotion to teaching art, says Katherine."Even into his nineties he would take himself off on public transport to the Tate and continued buying paintings," she says. "He only stopped painting about seven or eight years before he died."Hutchings' longevity might have been, in part, the result of his fitness. Continuing to run marathons into his eighties, in his early seventies he came second for his age group in the London Marathon.His was an extraordinary life and he left behind a rich and accomplished body of work that is in this sale now we are privileged to be able to present now-."The volume, range and quality of the works in the sale present a real opportunity to establish an ongoing market for Michael Hutchings. He may not have been able to pursue his first love as a career during his lifetime, but his talent certainly deserves significant recognition now."
Michael Hutchings (British, 1918-2020). Self Portrait. Felt tip. Initialled lower right, labelled verso. 28 x 28cm. Biography and ProvenanceFaced with a choice between art and medicine as a career after serving in the Second World war, the late Michael Hutchings (1918-2020) became a pathologist, working in London hospitals. However, he never abandoned his first love, painting, and kept an active studio wherever he lived, spending most of his adult live in Barnes, in the south west of the capital.He was an extraordinarily long-lived artist, who witnessed arguably the greatest period of development in Western art across his lifetime. When he was born, Vorticism and Cubism had only recently emerged, and by the time he died, aged 101, we had entered the age of Conceptual art, video art, NFTs and Banksy.Hutchings' contribution to the exploration of painting can largely be summed up in a single word: Colour. For him it was not simply a filler to assist in the expression of form, it was the form itself.Now works from his studio will be offered for the first timein this dedicated auction.The title of the sale pays tribute to his driving belief that it was the artist's job to let the colour express itself: The Michael Hutchings Collection: Let The Colour Do The Drawing.Whether landscapes, portraits, character studies, abstracts and semi-abstracts, Hutchings' mastery of the palette led to the creation of vibrant compositions where line and form were strictly defined by the use of block colour and colour shade. As in nature, he found no need for separate outline.Having trained at Chelsea College of Art and The Slade, as well as the Open College of the Arts, for much of his life he developed his theories and style under his own steam.He used unusual colour combinations and tones to express mood and atmosphere in his paintings, showing how unexpected pairings across the spectrum could produce surprisingly effective results.The range of works in the sale illustrates his consistent mastery of this technique, which not only creates psychological and emotional studies of great depth and sophistication, but also results in some highly attractive and decorative pieces.Born in Frodsham, Cheshire, young Michael was a sensitive child who developed a stammer following an unexceptional, but for him traumatic, classroom experience. The incident gave an early insight into his unusual perception of the world around, which included a highly developed appreciation for natural beauty.It also led to him being treated by the renowned therapist Lionel Logue, celebrated as King George VI's specialist in the multi-Oscar-winning film The King's Speech. Hutchings became friends with Logue's son who visited him in later years.Having studied medicine at Liverpool University, Hutchings signed up for the Army Medical Corps, serving in Italy, Morocco and Austria during the Second World War. During this time, he continued his practice of painting and drawing wherever he went, sending home for materials as he travelled across Europe.It was when he returned from the war and enrolled at Chelsea College of Art and then The Slade that he faced arguably the hardest decision of his life: whether to pursue a career in art or medicine. It is thought family pressure directed him to the latter and that pathology may have allowed him to pursue a career out of the public eye in the quiet of the laboratory and so saved him from exposing his intermittent stammer any more than he needed to.Working first at Whipps Cross Hospital, where he met his future wife Kitty, he moved to St Charles's Hospital in Ladbroke Grove, specialising in haematology, with a particular interest in sickle cell disease.Despite this, art was omnipresent, and after also studying at Putney School of Art and the Open School of Art, he became a member of the Royal Academy and exhibited at a number of shows over the years, where he sold works and won several competitions."He was fairly private and kept his art private generally, but everybody he knew knew he painted," says his daughter Katherine. "If he had gone for art as a career, I think he could have made a name for himself."She recalls him telling the family that painting was his first love, and weekends were spent visiting the latest exhibition. He was especially keen on new developments in art and 'the latest thing'.So important was painting to him that he even chose his children's school, Dartington Hall, because of its devotion to teaching art, says Katherine."Even into his nineties he would take himself off on public transport to the Tate and continued buying paintings," she says. "He only stopped painting about seven or eight years before he died."Hutchings' longevity might have been, in part, the result of his fitness. Continuing to run marathons into his eighties, in his early seventies he came second for his age group in the London Marathon.His was an extraordinary life and he left behind a rich and accomplished body of work that is in this sale now we are privileged to be able to present now-."The volume, range and quality of the works in the sale present a real opportunity to establish an ongoing market for Michael Hutchings. He may not have been able to pursue his first love as a career during his lifetime, but his talent certainly deserves significant recognition now."
20th Century British school. The Shetland Hotel, Lerwick. Gouache, appears unsigned but has slipped in mount so signature may be hidden. 87 x 109cm. Biography and ProvenanceFaced with a choice between art and medicine as a career after serving in the Second World war, the late Michael Hutchings (1918-2020) became a pathologist, working in London hospitals. However, he never abandoned his first love, painting, and kept an active studio wherever he lived, spending most of his adult live in Barnes, in the south west of the capital.He was an extraordinarily long-lived artist, who witnessed arguably the greatest period of development in Western art across his lifetime. When he was born, Vorticism and Cubism had only recently emerged, and by the time he died, aged 101, we had entered the age of Conceptual art, video art, NFTs and Banksy.Hutchings' contribution to the exploration of painting can largely be summed up in a single word: Colour. For him it was not simply a filler to assist in the expression of form, it was the form itself.Now works from his studio will be offered for the first timein this dedicated auction.The title of the sale pays tribute to his driving belief that it was the artist's job to let the colour express itself: The Michael Hutchings Collection: Let The Colour Do The Drawing.Whether landscapes, portraits, character studies, abstracts and semi-abstracts, Hutchings' mastery of the palette led to the creation of vibrant compositions where line and form were strictly defined by the use of block colour and colour shade. As in nature, he found no need for separate outline.Having trained at Chelsea College of Art and The Slade, as well as the Open College of the Arts, for much of his life he developed his theories and style under his own steam.He used unusual colour combinations and tones to express mood and atmosphere in his paintings, showing how unexpected pairings across the spectrum could produce surprisingly effective results.The range of works in the sale illustrates his consistent mastery of this technique, which not only creates psychological and emotional studies of great depth and sophistication, but also results in some highly attractive and decorative pieces.Born in Frodsham, Cheshire, young Michael was a sensitive child who developed a stammer following an unexceptional, but for him traumatic, classroom experience. The incident gave an early insight into his unusual perception of the world around, which included a highly developed appreciation for natural beauty.It also led to him being treated by the renowned therapist Lionel Logue, celebrated as King George VI's specialist in the multi-Oscar-winning film The King's Speech. Hutchings became friends with Logue's son who visited him in later years.Having studied medicine at Liverpool University, Hutchings signed up for the Army Medical Corps, serving in Italy, Morocco and Austria during the Second World War. During this time, he continued his practice of painting and drawing wherever he went, sending home for materials as he travelled across Europe.It was when he returned from the war and enrolled at Chelsea College of Art and then The Slade that he faced arguably the hardest decision of his life: whether to pursue a career in art or medicine. It is thought family pressure directed him to the latter and that pathology may have allowed him to pursue a career out of the public eye in the quiet of the laboratory and so saved him from exposing his intermittent stammer any more than he needed to.Working first at Whipps Cross Hospital, where he met his future wife Kitty, he moved to St Charles's Hospital in Ladbroke Grove, specialising in haematology, with a particular interest in sickle cell disease.Despite this, art was omnipresent, and after also studying at Putney School of Art and the Open School of Art, he became a member of the Royal Academy and exhibited at a number of shows over the years, where he sold works and won several competitions."He was fairly private and kept his art private generally, but everybody he knew knew he painted," says his daughter Katherine. "If he had gone for art as a career, I think he could have made a name for himself."She recalls him telling the family that painting was his first love, and weekends were spent visiting the latest exhibition. He was especially keen on new developments in art and 'the latest thing'.So important was painting to him that he even chose his children's school, Dartington Hall, because of its devotion to teaching art, says Katherine."Even into his nineties he would take himself off on public transport to the Tate and continued buying paintings," she says. "He only stopped painting about seven or eight years before he died."Hutchings' longevity might have been, in part, the result of his fitness. Continuing to run marathons into his eighties, in his early seventies he came second for his age group in the London Marathon.His was an extraordinary life and he left behind a rich and accomplished body of work that is in this sale now we are privileged to be able to present now-."The volume, range and quality of the works in the sale present a real opportunity to establish an ongoing market for Michael Hutchings. He may not have been able to pursue his first love as a career during his lifetime, but his talent certainly deserves significant recognition now."
Caroline Sayer (Contemporary). Life Painting, watercolour. Signed to the mount, labelled verso. Biography and ProvenanceFaced with a choice between art and medicine as a career after serving in the Second World war, the late Michael Hutchings (1918-2020) became a pathologist, working in London hospitals. However, he never abandoned his first love, painting, and kept an active studio wherever he lived, spending most of his adult live in Barnes, in the south west of the capital.He was an extraordinarily long-lived artist, who witnessed arguably the greatest period of development in Western art across his lifetime. When he was born, Vorticism and Cubism had only recently emerged, and by the time he died, aged 101, we had entered the age of Conceptual art, video art, NFTs and Banksy.Hutchings' contribution to the exploration of painting can largely be summed up in a single word: Colour. For him it was not simply a filler to assist in the expression of form, it was the form itself.Now works from his studio will be offered for the first timein this dedicated auction.The title of the sale pays tribute to his driving belief that it was the artist's job to let the colour express itself: The Michael Hutchings Collection: Let The Colour Do The Drawing.Whether landscapes, portraits, character studies, abstracts and semi-abstracts, Hutchings' mastery of the palette led to the creation of vibrant compositions where line and form were strictly defined by the use of block colour and colour shade. As in nature, he found no need for separate outline.Having trained at Chelsea College of Art and The Slade, as well as the Open College of the Arts, for much of his life he developed his theories and style under his own steam.He used unusual colour combinations and tones to express mood and atmosphere in his paintings, showing how unexpected pairings across the spectrum could produce surprisingly effective results.The range of works in the sale illustrates his consistent mastery of this technique, which not only creates psychological and emotional studies of great depth and sophistication, but also results in some highly attractive and decorative pieces.Born in Frodsham, Cheshire, young Michael was a sensitive child who developed a stammer following an unexceptional, but for him traumatic, classroom experience. The incident gave an early insight into his unusual perception of the world around, which included a highly developed appreciation for natural beauty.It also led to him being treated by the renowned therapist Lionel Logue, celebrated as King George VI's specialist in the multi-Oscar-winning film The King's Speech. Hutchings became friends with Logue's son who visited him in later years.Having studied medicine at Liverpool University, Hutchings signed up for the Army Medical Corps, serving in Italy, Morocco and Austria during the Second World War. During this time, he continued his practice of painting and drawing wherever he went, sending home for materials as he travelled across Europe.It was when he returned from the war and enrolled at Chelsea College of Art and then The Slade that he faced arguably the hardest decision of his life: whether to pursue a career in art or medicine. It is thought family pressure directed him to the latter and that pathology may have allowed him to pursue a career out of the public eye in the quiet of the laboratory and so saved him from exposing his intermittent stammer any more than he needed to.Working first at Whipps Cross Hospital, where he met his future wife Kitty, he moved to St Charles's Hospital in Ladbroke Grove, specialising in haematology, with a particular interest in sickle cell disease.Despite this, art was omnipresent, and after also studying at Putney School of Art and the Open School of Art, he became a member of the Royal Academy and exhibited at a number of shows over the years, where he sold works and won several competitions."He was fairly private and kept his art private generally, but everybody he knew knew he painted," says his daughter Katherine. "If he had gone for art as a career, I think he could have made a name for himself."She recalls him telling the family that painting was his first love, and weekends were spent visiting the latest exhibition. He was especially keen on new developments in art and 'the latest thing'.So important was painting to him that he even chose his children's school, Dartington Hall, because of its devotion to teaching art, says Katherine."Even into his nineties he would take himself off on public transport to the Tate and continued buying paintings," she says. "He only stopped painting about seven or eight years before he died."Hutchings' longevity might have been, in part, the result of his fitness. Continuing to run marathons into his eighties, in his early seventies he came second for his age group in the London Marathon.His was an extraordinary life and he left behind a rich and accomplished body of work that is in this sale now we are privileged to be able to present now-."The volume, range and quality of the works in the sale present a real opportunity to establish an ongoing market for Michael Hutchings. He may not have been able to pursue his first love as a career during his lifetime, but his talent certainly deserves significant recognition now."
Michael Hutchings (British, 1918-2020). Have a Go, Collage in beige and orange. 2007. Initialled and dated. 51 x 70cm. Biography and ProvenanceFaced with a choice between art and medicine as a career after serving in the Second World war, the late Michael Hutchings (1918-2020) became a pathologist, working in London hospitals. However, he never abandoned his first love, painting, and kept an active studio wherever he lived, spending most of his adult live in Barnes, in the south west of the capital.He was an extraordinarily long-lived artist, who witnessed arguably the greatest period of development in Western art across his lifetime. When he was born, Vorticism and Cubism had only recently emerged, and by the time he died, aged 101, we had entered the age of Conceptual art, video art, NFTs and Banksy.Hutchings' contribution to the exploration of painting can largely be summed up in a single word: Colour. For him it was not simply a filler to assist in the expression of form, it was the form itself.Now works from his studio will be offered for the first timein this dedicated auction.The title of the sale pays tribute to his driving belief that it was the artist's job to let the colour express itself: The Michael Hutchings Collection: Let The Colour Do The Drawing.Whether landscapes, portraits, character studies, abstracts and semi-abstracts, Hutchings' mastery of the palette led to the creation of vibrant compositions where line and form were strictly defined by the use of block colour and colour shade. As in nature, he found no need for separate outline.Having trained at Chelsea College of Art and The Slade, as well as the Open College of the Arts, for much of his life he developed his theories and style under his own steam.He used unusual colour combinations and tones to express mood and atmosphere in his paintings, showing how unexpected pairings across the spectrum could produce surprisingly effective results.The range of works in the sale illustrates his consistent mastery of this technique, which not only creates psychological and emotional studies of great depth and sophistication, but also results in some highly attractive and decorative pieces.Born in Frodsham, Cheshire, young Michael was a sensitive child who developed a stammer following an unexceptional, but for him traumatic, classroom experience. The incident gave an early insight into his unusual perception of the world around, which included a highly developed appreciation for natural beauty.It also led to him being treated by the renowned therapist Lionel Logue, celebrated as King George VI's specialist in the multi-Oscar-winning film The King's Speech. Hutchings became friends with Logue's son who visited him in later years.Having studied medicine at Liverpool University, Hutchings signed up for the Army Medical Corps, serving in Italy, Morocco and Austria during the Second World War. During this time, he continued his practice of painting and drawing wherever he went, sending home for materials as he travelled across Europe.It was when he returned from the war and enrolled at Chelsea College of Art and then The Slade that he faced arguably the hardest decision of his life: whether to pursue a career in art or medicine. It is thought family pressure directed him to the latter and that pathology may have allowed him to pursue a career out of the public eye in the quiet of the laboratory and so saved him from exposing his intermittent stammer any more than he needed to.Working first at Whipps Cross Hospital, where he met his future wife Kitty, he moved to St Charles's Hospital in Ladbroke Grove, specialising in haematology, with a particular interest in sickle cell disease.Despite this, art was omnipresent, and after also studying at Putney School of Art and the Open School of Art, he became a member of the Royal Academy and exhibited at a number of shows over the years, where he sold works and won several competitions."He was fairly private and kept his art private generally, but everybody he knew knew he painted," says his daughter Katherine. "If he had gone for art as a career, I think he could have made a name for himself."She recalls him telling the family that painting was his first love, and weekends were spent visiting the latest exhibition. He was especially keen on new developments in art and 'the latest thing'.So important was painting to him that he even chose his children's school, Dartington Hall, because of its devotion to teaching art, says Katherine."Even into his nineties he would take himself off on public transport to the Tate and continued buying paintings," she says. "He only stopped painting about seven or eight years before he died."Hutchings' longevity might have been, in part, the result of his fitness. Continuing to run marathons into his eighties, in his early seventies he came second for his age group in the London Marathon.His was an extraordinary life and he left behind a rich and accomplished body of work that is in this sale now we are privileged to be able to present now-."The volume, range and quality of the works in the sale present a real opportunity to establish an ongoing market for Michael Hutchings. He may not have been able to pursue his first love as a career during his lifetime, but his talent certainly deserves significant recognition now."
Michael Hutching (1918-2020). Eseley Valley, Lower House Farm, Watercolour 1973, signed and dated lower right. Unframed with original backing board with New English Art Club labels. Biography and ProvenanceFaced with a choice between art and medicine as a career after serving in the Second World war, the late Michael Hutchings (1918-2020) became a pathologist, working in London hospitals. However, he never abandoned his first love, painting, and kept an active studio wherever he lived, spending most of his adult live in Barnes, in the south west of the capital.He was an extraordinarily long-lived artist, who witnessed arguably the greatest period of development in Western art across his lifetime. When he was born, Vorticism and Cubism had only recently emerged, and by the time he died, aged 101, we had entered the age of Conceptual art, video art, NFTs and Banksy.Hutchings' contribution to the exploration of painting can largely be summed up in a single word: Colour. For him it was not simply a filler to assist in the expression of form, it was the form itself.Now works from his studio will be offered for the first timein this dedicated auction.The title of the sale pays tribute to his driving belief that it was the artist's job to let the colour express itself: The Michael Hutchings Collection: Let The Colour Do The Drawing.Whether landscapes, portraits, character studies, abstracts and semi-abstracts, Hutchings' mastery of the palette led to the creation of vibrant compositions where line and form were strictly defined by the use of block colour and colour shade. As in nature, he found no need for separate outline.Having trained at Chelsea College of Art and The Slade, as well as the Open College of the Arts, for much of his life he developed his theories and style under his own steam.He used unusual colour combinations and tones to express mood and atmosphere in his paintings, showing how unexpected pairings across the spectrum could produce surprisingly effective results.The range of works in the sale illustrates his consistent mastery of this technique, which not only creates psychological and emotional studies of great depth and sophistication, but also results in some highly attractive and decorative pieces.Born in Frodsham, Cheshire, young Michael was a sensitive child who developed a stammer following an unexceptional, but for him traumatic, classroom experience. The incident gave an early insight into his unusual perception of the world around, which included a highly developed appreciation for natural beauty.It also led to him being treated by the renowned therapist Lionel Logue, celebrated as King George VI's specialist in the multi-Oscar-winning film The King's Speech. Hutchings became friends with Logue's son who visited him in later years.Having studied medicine at Liverpool University, Hutchings signed up for the Army Medical Corps, serving in Italy, Morocco and Austria during the Second World War. During this time, he continued his practice of painting and drawing wherever he went, sending home for materials as he travelled across Europe.It was when he returned from the war and enrolled at Chelsea College of Art and then The Slade that he faced arguably the hardest decision of his life: whether to pursue a career in art or medicine. It is thought family pressure directed him to the latter and that pathology may have allowed him to pursue a career out of the public eye in the quiet of the laboratory and so saved him from exposing his intermittent stammer any more than he needed to.Working first at Whipps Cross Hospital, where he met his future wife Kitty, he moved to St Charles's Hospital in Ladbroke Grove, specialising in haematology, with a particular interest in sickle cell disease.Despite this, art was omnipresent, and after also studying at Putney School of Art and the Open School of Art, he became a member of the Royal Academy and exhibited at a number of shows over the years, where he sold works and won several competitions."He was fairly private and kept his art private generally, but everybody he knew knew he painted," says his daughter Katherine. "If he had gone for art as a career, I think he could have made a name for himself."She recalls him telling the family that painting was his first love, and weekends were spent visiting the latest exhibition. He was especially keen on new developments in art and 'the latest thing'.So important was painting to him that he even chose his children's school, Dartington Hall, because of its devotion to teaching art, says Katherine."Even into his nineties he would take himself off on public transport to the Tate and continued buying paintings," she says. "He only stopped painting about seven or eight years before he died."Hutchings' longevity might have been, in part, the result of his fitness. Continuing to run marathons into his eighties, in his early seventies he came second for his age group in the London Marathon.His was an extraordinary life and he left behind a rich and accomplished body of work that is in this sale now we are privileged to be able to present now-."The volume, range and quality of the works in the sale present a real opportunity to establish an ongoing market for Michael Hutchings. He may not have been able to pursue his first love as a career during his lifetime, but his talent certainly deserves significant recognition now."
Michael Hutchings (British, 1918-2020), 'Poissons d'Avril', still life with fish. Acrylic. Signed and dated '88. 46 x 64cm.Biography and ProvenanceFaced with a choice between art and medicine as a career after serving in the Second World war, the late Michael Hutchings (1918-2020) became a pathologist, working in London hospitals. However, he never abandoned his first love, painting, and kept an active studio wherever he lived, spending most of his adult live in Barnes, in the south west of the capital.He was an extraordinarily long-lived artist, who witnessed arguably the greatest period of development in Western art across his lifetime. When he was born, Vorticism and Cubism had only recently emerged, and by the time he died, aged 101, we had entered the age of Conceptual art, video art, NFTs and Banksy.Hutchings' contribution to the exploration of painting can largely be summed up in a single word: Colour. For him it was not simply a filler to assist in the expression of form, it was the form itself.Now works from his studio will be offered for the first timein this dedicated auction.The title of the sale pays tribute to his driving belief that it was the artist's job to let the colour express itself: The Michael Hutchings Collection: Let The Colour Do The Drawing.Whether landscapes, portraits, character studies, abstracts and semi-abstracts, Hutchings' mastery of the palette led to the creation of vibrant compositions where line and form were strictly defined by the use of block colour and colour shade. As in nature, he found no need for separate outline.Having trained at Chelsea College of Art and The Slade, as well as the Open College of the Arts, for much of his life he developed his theories and style under his own steam.He used unusual colour combinations and tones to express mood and atmosphere in his paintings, showing how unexpected pairings across the spectrum could produce surprisingly effective results.The range of works in the sale illustrates his consistent mastery of this technique, which not only creates psychological and emotional studies of great depth and sophistication, but also results in some highly attractive and decorative pieces.Born in Frodsham, Cheshire, young Michael was a sensitive child who developed a stammer following an unexceptional, but for him traumatic, classroom experience. The incident gave an early insight into his unusual perception of the world around, which included a highly developed appreciation for natural beauty.It also led to him being treated by the renowned therapist Lionel Logue, celebrated as King George VI's specialist in the multi-Oscar-winning film The King's Speech. Hutchings became friends with Logue's son who visited him in later years.Having studied medicine at Liverpool University, Hutchings signed up for the Army Medical Corps, serving in Italy, Morocco and Austria during the Second World War. During this time, he continued his practice of painting and drawing wherever he went, sending home for materials as he travelled across Europe.It was when he returned from the war and enrolled at Chelsea College of Art and then The Slade that he faced arguably the hardest decision of his life: whether to pursue a career in art or medicine. It is thought family pressure directed him to the latter and that pathology may have allowed him to pursue a career out of the public eye in the quiet of the laboratory and so saved him from exposing his intermittent stammer any more than he needed to.Working first at Whipps Cross Hospital, where he met his future wife Kitty, he moved to St Charles's Hospital in Ladbroke Grove, specialising in haematology, with a particular interest in sickle cell disease.Despite this, art was omnipresent, and after also studying at Putney School of Art and the Open School of Art, he became a member of the Royal Academy and exhibited at a number of shows over the years, where he sold works and won several competitions."He was fairly private and kept his art private generally, but everybody he knew knew he painted," says his daughter Katherine. "If he had gone for art as a career, I think he could have made a name for himself."She recalls him telling the family that painting was his first love, and weekends were spent visiting the latest exhibition. He was especially keen on new developments in art and 'the latest thing'.So important was painting to him that he even chose his children's school, Dartington Hall, because of its devotion to teaching art, says Katherine."Even into his nineties he would take himself off on public transport to the Tate and continued buying paintings," she says. "He only stopped painting about seven or eight years before he died."Hutchings' longevity might have been, in part, the result of his fitness. Continuing to run marathons into his eighties, in his early seventies he came second for his age group in the London Marathon.His was an extraordinary life and he left behind a rich and accomplished body of work that is in this sale now we are privileged to be able to present now-."The volume, range and quality of the works in the sale present a real opportunity to establish an ongoing market for Michael Hutchings. He may not have been able to pursue his first love as a career during his lifetime, but his talent certainly deserves significant recognition now."
Michael Hutchings (British, 1918-2020), 'Back Gardens'. Acrylic and collage on canvas board. Labels verso. 62 x 82cm.Biography and ProvenanceFaced with a choice between art and medicine as a career after serving in the Second World war, the late Michael Hutchings (1918-2020) became a pathologist, working in London hospitals. However, he never abandoned his first love, painting, and kept an active studio wherever he lived, spending most of his adult live in Barnes, in the south west of the capital.He was an extraordinarily long-lived artist, who witnessed arguably the greatest period of development in Western art across his lifetime. When he was born, Vorticism and Cubism had only recently emerged, and by the time he died, aged 101, we had entered the age of Conceptual art, video art, NFTs and Banksy.Hutchings' contribution to the exploration of painting can largely be summed up in a single word: Colour. For him it was not simply a filler to assist in the expression of form, it was the form itself.Now works from his studio will be offered for the first timein this dedicated auction.The title of the sale pays tribute to his driving belief that it was the artist's job to let the colour express itself: The Michael Hutchings Collection: Let The Colour Do The Drawing.Whether landscapes, portraits, character studies, abstracts and semi-abstracts, Hutchings' mastery of the palette led to the creation of vibrant compositions where line and form were strictly defined by the use of block colour and colour shade. As in nature, he found no need for separate outline.Having trained at Chelsea College of Art and The Slade, as well as the Open College of the Arts, for much of his life he developed his theories and style under his own steam.He used unusual colour combinations and tones to express mood and atmosphere in his paintings, showing how unexpected pairings across the spectrum could produce surprisingly effective results.The range of works in the sale illustrates his consistent mastery of this technique, which not only creates psychological and emotional studies of great depth and sophistication, but also results in some highly attractive and decorative pieces.Born in Frodsham, Cheshire, young Michael was a sensitive child who developed a stammer following an unexceptional, but for him traumatic, classroom experience. The incident gave an early insight into his unusual perception of the world around, which included a highly developed appreciation for natural beauty.It also led to him being treated by the renowned therapist Lionel Logue, celebrated as King George VI's specialist in the multi-Oscar-winning film The King's Speech. Hutchings became friends with Logue's son who visited him in later years.Having studied medicine at Liverpool University, Hutchings signed up for the Army Medical Corps, serving in Italy, Morocco and Austria during the Second World War. During this time, he continued his practice of painting and drawing wherever he went, sending home for materials as he travelled across Europe.It was when he returned from the war and enrolled at Chelsea College of Art and then The Slade that he faced arguably the hardest decision of his life: whether to pursue a career in art or medicine. It is thought family pressure directed him to the latter and that pathology may have allowed him to pursue a career out of the public eye in the quiet of the laboratory and so saved him from exposing his intermittent stammer any more than he needed to.Working first at Whipps Cross Hospital, where he met his future wife Kitty, he moved to St Charles's Hospital in Ladbroke Grove, specialising in haematology, with a particular interest in sickle cell disease.Despite this, art was omnipresent, and after also studying at Putney School of Art and the Open School of Art, he became a member of the Royal Academy and exhibited at a number of shows over the years, where he sold works and won several competitions."He was fairly private and kept his art private generally, but everybody he knew knew he painted," says his daughter Katherine. "If he had gone for art as a career, I think he could have made a name for himself."She recalls him telling the family that painting was his first love, and weekends were spent visiting the latest exhibition. He was especially keen on new developments in art and 'the latest thing'.So important was painting to him that he even chose his children's school, Dartington Hall, because of its devotion to teaching art, says Katherine."Even into his nineties he would take himself off on public transport to the Tate and continued buying paintings," she says. "He only stopped painting about seven or eight years before he died."Hutchings' longevity might have been, in part, the result of his fitness. Continuing to run marathons into his eighties, in his early seventies he came second for his age group in the London Marathon.His was an extraordinary life and he left behind a rich and accomplished body of work that is in this sale now we are privileged to be able to present now-."The volume, range and quality of the works in the sale present a real opportunity to establish an ongoing market for Michael Hutchings. He may not have been able to pursue his first love as a career during his lifetime, but his talent certainly deserves significant recognition now."
Michael Hutchings (British, 1918-2020), 'Welsh Pastoral', sheep and cattle on a hillside (1990). Acrylic and oil on board. Signed with initials. Labels verso. 61 x 84cm.Biography and ProvenanceFaced with a choice between art and medicine as a career after serving in the Second World war, the late Michael Hutchings (1918-2020) became a pathologist, working in London hospitals. However, he never abandoned his first love, painting, and kept an active studio wherever he lived, spending most of his adult live in Barnes, in the south west of the capital.He was an extraordinarily long-lived artist, who witnessed arguably the greatest period of development in Western art across his lifetime. When he was born, Vorticism and Cubism had only recently emerged, and by the time he died, aged 101, we had entered the age of Conceptual art, video art, NFTs and Banksy.Hutchings' contribution to the exploration of painting can largely be summed up in a single word: Colour. For him it was not simply a filler to assist in the expression of form, it was the form itself.Now works from his studio will be offered for the first timein this dedicated auction.The title of the sale pays tribute to his driving belief that it was the artist's job to let the colour express itself: The Michael Hutchings Collection: Let The Colour Do The Drawing.Whether landscapes, portraits, character studies, abstracts and semi-abstracts, Hutchings' mastery of the palette led to the creation of vibrant compositions where line and form were strictly defined by the use of block colour and colour shade. As in nature, he found no need for separate outline.Having trained at Chelsea College of Art and The Slade, as well as the Open College of the Arts, for much of his life he developed his theories and style under his own steam.He used unusual colour combinations and tones to express mood and atmosphere in his paintings, showing how unexpected pairings across the spectrum could produce surprisingly effective results.The range of works in the sale illustrates his consistent mastery of this technique, which not only creates psychological and emotional studies of great depth and sophistication, but also results in some highly attractive and decorative pieces.Born in Frodsham, Cheshire, young Michael was a sensitive child who developed a stammer following an unexceptional, but for him traumatic, classroom experience. The incident gave an early insight into his unusual perception of the world around, which included a highly developed appreciation for natural beauty.It also led to him being treated by the renowned therapist Lionel Logue, celebrated as King George VI's specialist in the multi-Oscar-winning film The King's Speech. Hutchings became friends with Logue's son who visited him in later years.Having studied medicine at Liverpool University, Hutchings signed up for the Army Medical Corps, serving in Italy, Morocco and Austria during the Second World War. During this time, he continued his practice of painting and drawing wherever he went, sending home for materials as he travelled across Europe.It was when he returned from the war and enrolled at Chelsea College of Art and then The Slade that he faced arguably the hardest decision of his life: whether to pursue a career in art or medicine. It is thought family pressure directed him to the latter and that pathology may have allowed him to pursue a career out of the public eye in the quiet of the laboratory and so saved him from exposing his intermittent stammer any more than he needed to.Working first at Whipps Cross Hospital, where he met his future wife Kitty, he moved to St Charles's Hospital in Ladbroke Grove, specialising in haematology, with a particular interest in sickle cell disease.Despite this, art was omnipresent, and after also studying at Putney School of Art and the Open School of Art, he became a member of the Royal Academy and exhibited at a number of shows over the years, where he sold works and won several competitions."He was fairly private and kept his art private generally, but everybody he knew knew he painted," says his daughter Katherine. "If he had gone for art as a career, I think he could have made a name for himself."She recalls him telling the family that painting was his first love, and weekends were spent visiting the latest exhibition. He was especially keen on new developments in art and 'the latest thing'.So important was painting to him that he even chose his children's school, Dartington Hall, because of its devotion to teaching art, says Katherine."Even into his nineties he would take himself off on public transport to the Tate and continued buying paintings," she says. "He only stopped painting about seven or eight years before he died."Hutchings' longevity might have been, in part, the result of his fitness. Continuing to run marathons into his eighties, in his early seventies he came second for his age group in the London Marathon.His was an extraordinary life and he left behind a rich and accomplished body of work that is in this sale now we are privileged to be able to present now-."The volume, range and quality of the works in the sale present a real opportunity to establish an ongoing market for Michael Hutchings. He may not have been able to pursue his first love as a career during his lifetime, but his talent certainly deserves significant recognition now."
Michael Hutchings (1918-2020). A View in the Park. Acrylic on canvas, 1991/2. Initialled and dated lower left, labelled verso. 100 x 79cm. Biography and ProvenanceFaced with a choice between art and medicine as a career after serving in the Second World war, the late Michael Hutchings (1918-2020) became a pathologist, working in London hospitals. However, he never abandoned his first love, painting, and kept an active studio wherever he lived, spending most of his adult live in Barnes, in the south west of the capital.He was an extraordinarily long-lived artist, who witnessed arguably the greatest period of development in Western art across his lifetime. When he was born, Vorticism and Cubism had only recently emerged, and by the time he died, aged 101, we had entered the age of Conceptual art, video art, NFTs and Banksy.Hutchings' contribution to the exploration of painting can largely be summed up in a single word: Colour. For him it was not simply a filler to assist in the expression of form, it was the form itself.Now works from his studio will be offered for the first timein this dedicated auction.The title of the sale pays tribute to his driving belief that it was the artist's job to let the colour express itself: The Michael Hutchings Collection: Let The Colour Do The Drawing.Whether landscapes, portraits, character studies, abstracts and semi-abstracts, Hutchings' mastery of the palette led to the creation of vibrant compositions where line and form were strictly defined by the use of block colour and colour shade. As in nature, he found no need for separate outline.Having trained at Chelsea College of Art and The Slade, as well as the Open College of the Arts, for much of his life he developed his theories and style under his own steam.He used unusual colour combinations and tones to express mood and atmosphere in his paintings, showing how unexpected pairings across the spectrum could produce surprisingly effective results.The range of works in the sale illustrates his consistent mastery of this technique, which not only creates psychological and emotional studies of great depth and sophistication, but also results in some highly attractive and decorative pieces.Born in Frodsham, Cheshire, young Michael was a sensitive child who developed a stammer following an unexceptional, but for him traumatic, classroom experience. The incident gave an early insight into his unusual perception of the world around, which included a highly developed appreciation for natural beauty.It also led to him being treated by the renowned therapist Lionel Logue, celebrated as King George VI's specialist in the multi-Oscar-winning film The King's Speech. Hutchings became friends with Logue's son who visited him in later years.Having studied medicine at Liverpool University, Hutchings signed up for the Army Medical Corps, serving in Italy, Morocco and Austria during the Second World War. During this time, he continued his practice of painting and drawing wherever he went, sending home for materials as he travelled across Europe.It was when he returned from the war and enrolled at Chelsea College of Art and then The Slade that he faced arguably the hardest decision of his life: whether to pursue a career in art or medicine. It is thought family pressure directed him to the latter and that pathology may have allowed him to pursue a career out of the public eye in the quiet of the laboratory and so saved him from exposing his intermittent stammer any more than he needed to.Working first at Whipps Cross Hospital, where he met his future wife Kitty, he moved to St Charles's Hospital in Ladbroke Grove, specialising in haematology, with a particular interest in sickle cell disease.Despite this, art was omnipresent, and after also studying at Putney School of Art and the Open School of Art, he became a member of the Royal Academy and exhibited at a number of shows over the years, where he sold works and won several competitions."He was fairly private and kept his art private generally, but everybody he knew knew he painted," says his daughter Katherine. "If he had gone for art as a career, I think he could have made a name for himself."She recalls him telling the family that painting was his first love, and weekends were spent visiting the latest exhibition. He was especially keen on new developments in art and 'the latest thing'.So important was painting to him that he even chose his children's school, Dartington Hall, because of its devotion to teaching art, says Katherine."Even into his nineties he would take himself off on public transport to the Tate and continued buying paintings," she says. "He only stopped painting about seven or eight years before he died."Hutchings' longevity might have been, in part, the result of his fitness. Continuing to run marathons into his eighties, in his early seventies he came second for his age group in the London Marathon.His was an extraordinary life and he left behind a rich and accomplished body of work that is in this sale now we are privileged to be able to present now-."The volume, range and quality of the works in the sale present a real opportunity to establish an ongoing market for Michael Hutchings. He may not have been able to pursue his first love as a career during his lifetime, but his talent certainly deserves significant recognition now."
Michael Hutchings (1918-2020). Geometric Abstract. Acrylic on canvas. Signed and dated lower right and verso.Biography and ProvenanceFaced with a choice between art and medicine as a career after serving in the Second World war, the late Michael Hutchings (1918-2020) became a pathologist, working in London hospitals. However, he never abandoned his first love, painting, and kept an active studio wherever he lived, spending most of his adult live in Barnes, in the south west of the capital.He was an extraordinarily long-lived artist, who witnessed arguably the greatest period of development in Western art across his lifetime. When he was born, Vorticism and Cubism had only recently emerged, and by the time he died, aged 101, we had entered the age of Conceptual art, video art, NFTs and Banksy.Hutchings' contribution to the exploration of painting can largely be summed up in a single word: Colour. For him it was not simply a filler to assist in the expression of form, it was the form itself.Now works from his studio will be offered for the first timein this dedicated auction.The title of the sale pays tribute to his driving belief that it was the artist's job to let the colour express itself: The Michael Hutchings Collection: Let The Colour Do The Drawing.Whether landscapes, portraits, character studies, abstracts and semi-abstracts, Hutchings' mastery of the palette led to the creation of vibrant compositions where line and form were strictly defined by the use of block colour and colour shade. As in nature, he found no need for separate outline.Having trained at Chelsea College of Art and The Slade, as well as the Open College of the Arts, for much of his life he developed his theories and style under his own steam.He used unusual colour combinations and tones to express mood and atmosphere in his paintings, showing how unexpected pairings across the spectrum could produce surprisingly effective results.The range of works in the sale illustrates his consistent mastery of this technique, which not only creates psychological and emotional studies of great depth and sophistication, but also results in some highly attractive and decorative pieces.Born in Frodsham, Cheshire, young Michael was a sensitive child who developed a stammer following an unexceptional, but for him traumatic, classroom experience. The incident gave an early insight into his unusual perception of the world around, which included a highly developed appreciation for natural beauty.It also led to him being treated by the renowned therapist Lionel Logue, celebrated as King George VI's specialist in the multi-Oscar-winning film The King's Speech. Hutchings became friends with Logue's son who visited him in later years.Having studied medicine at Liverpool University, Hutchings signed up for the Army Medical Corps, serving in Italy, Morocco and Austria during the Second World War. During this time, he continued his practice of painting and drawing wherever he went, sending home for materials as he travelled across Europe.It was when he returned from the war and enrolled at Chelsea College of Art and then The Slade that he faced arguably the hardest decision of his life: whether to pursue a career in art or medicine. It is thought family pressure directed him to the latter and that pathology may have allowed him to pursue a career out of the public eye in the quiet of the laboratory and so saved him from exposing his intermittent stammer any more than he needed to.Working first at Whipps Cross Hospital, where he met his future wife Kitty, he moved to St Charles's Hospital in Ladbroke Grove, specialising in haematology, with a particular interest in sickle cell disease.Despite this, art was omnipresent, and after also studying at Putney School of Art and the Open School of Art, he became a member of the Royal Academy and exhibited at a number of shows over the years, where he sold works and won several competitions."He was fairly private and kept his art private generally, but everybody he knew knew he painted," says his daughter Katherine. "If he had gone for art as a career, I think he could have made a name for himself."She recalls him telling the family that painting was his first love, and weekends were spent visiting the latest exhibition. He was especially keen on new developments in art and 'the latest thing'.So important was painting to him that he even chose his children's school, Dartington Hall, because of its devotion to teaching art, says Katherine."Even into his nineties he would take himself off on public transport to the Tate and continued buying paintings," she says. "He only stopped painting about seven or eight years before he died."Hutchings' longevity might have been, in part, the result of his fitness. Continuing to run marathons into his eighties, in his early seventies he came second for his age group in the London Marathon.His was an extraordinary life and he left behind a rich and accomplished body of work that is in this sale now we are privileged to be able to present now-."The volume, range and quality of the works in the sale present a real opportunity to establish an ongoing market for Michael Hutchings. He may not have been able to pursue his first love as a career during his lifetime, but his talent certainly deserves significant recognition now."
Vera Hickmott (20th Century). Celtic Cross. Intaglio Etching (1985). Titled, signed and dated. 43 x 31cm. Biography and ProvenanceFaced with a choice between art and medicine as a career after serving in the Second World war, the late Michael Hutchings (1918-2020) became a pathologist, working in London hospitals. However, he never abandoned his first love, painting, and kept an active studio wherever he lived, spending most of his adult live in Barnes, in the south west of the capital.He was an extraordinarily long-lived artist, who witnessed arguably the greatest period of development in Western art across his lifetime. When he was born, Vorticism and Cubism had only recently emerged, and by the time he died, aged 101, we had entered the age of Conceptual art, video art, NFTs and Banksy.Hutchings' contribution to the exploration of painting can largely be summed up in a single word: Colour. For him it was not simply a filler to assist in the expression of form, it was the form itself.Now works from his studio will be offered for the first timein this dedicated auction.The title of the sale pays tribute to his driving belief that it was the artist's job to let the colour express itself: The Michael Hutchings Collection: Let The Colour Do The Drawing.Whether landscapes, portraits, character studies, abstracts and semi-abstracts, Hutchings' mastery of the palette led to the creation of vibrant compositions where line and form were strictly defined by the use of block colour and colour shade. As in nature, he found no need for separate outline.Having trained at Chelsea College of Art and The Slade, as well as the Open College of the Arts, for much of his life he developed his theories and style under his own steam.He used unusual colour combinations and tones to express mood and atmosphere in his paintings, showing how unexpected pairings across the spectrum could produce surprisingly effective results.The range of works in the sale illustrates his consistent mastery of this technique, which not only creates psychological and emotional studies of great depth and sophistication, but also results in some highly attractive and decorative pieces.Born in Frodsham, Cheshire, young Michael was a sensitive child who developed a stammer following an unexceptional, but for him traumatic, classroom experience. The incident gave an early insight into his unusual perception of the world around, which included a highly developed appreciation for natural beauty.It also led to him being treated by the renowned therapist Lionel Logue, celebrated as King George VI's specialist in the multi-Oscar-winning film The King's Speech. Hutchings became friends with Logue's son who visited him in later years.Having studied medicine at Liverpool University, Hutchings signed up for the Army Medical Corps, serving in Italy, Morocco and Austria during the Second World War. During this time, he continued his practice of painting and drawing wherever he went, sending home for materials as he travelled across Europe.It was when he returned from the war and enrolled at Chelsea College of Art and then The Slade that he faced arguably the hardest decision of his life: whether to pursue a career in art or medicine. It is thought family pressure directed him to the latter and that pathology may have allowed him to pursue a career out of the public eye in the quiet of the laboratory and so saved him from exposing his intermittent stammer any more than he needed to.Working first at Whipps Cross Hospital, where he met his future wife Kitty, he moved to St Charles's Hospital in Ladbroke Grove, specialising in haematology, with a particular interest in sickle cell disease.Despite this, art was omnipresent, and after also studying at Putney School of Art and the Open School of Art, he became a member of the Royal Academy and exhibited at a number of shows over the years, where he sold works and won several competitions."He was fairly private and kept his art private generally, but everybody he knew knew he painted," says his daughter Katherine. "If he had gone for art as a career, I think he could have made a name for himself."She recalls him telling the family that painting was his first love, and weekends were spent visiting the latest exhibition. He was especially keen on new developments in art and 'the latest thing'.So important was painting to him that he even chose his children's school, Dartington Hall, because of its devotion to teaching art, says Katherine."Even into his nineties he would take himself off on public transport to the Tate and continued buying paintings," she says. "He only stopped painting about seven or eight years before he died."Hutchings' longevity might have been, in part, the result of his fitness. Continuing to run marathons into his eighties, in his early seventies he came second for his age group in the London Marathon.His was an extraordinary life and he left behind a rich and accomplished body of work that is in this sale now we are privileged to be able to present now-."The volume, range and quality of the works in the sale present a real opportunity to establish an ongoing market for Michael Hutchings. He may not have been able to pursue his first love as a career during his lifetime, but his talent certainly deserves significant recognition now."
Michael Hutchings (British, 1918-2020). Masked River Etching, 1970, signed, titled and dated lower margin. 56 x 42cm. Biography and ProvenanceFaced with a choice between art and medicine as a career after serving in the Second World war, the late Michael Hutchings (1918-2020) became a pathologist, working in London hospitals. However, he never abandoned his first love, painting, and kept an active studio wherever he lived, spending most of his adult live in Barnes, in the south west of the capital.He was an extraordinarily long-lived artist, who witnessed arguably the greatest period of development in Western art across his lifetime. When he was born, Vorticism and Cubism had only recently emerged, and by the time he died, aged 101, we had entered the age of Conceptual art, video art, NFTs and Banksy.Hutchings' contribution to the exploration of painting can largely be summed up in a single word: Colour. For him it was not simply a filler to assist in the expression of form, it was the form itself.Now works from his studio will be offered for the first timein this dedicated auction.The title of the sale pays tribute to his driving belief that it was the artist's job to let the colour express itself: The Michael Hutchings Collection: Let The Colour Do The Drawing.Whether landscapes, portraits, character studies, abstracts and semi-abstracts, Hutchings' mastery of the palette led to the creation of vibrant compositions where line and form were strictly defined by the use of block colour and colour shade. As in nature, he found no need for separate outline.Having trained at Chelsea College of Art and The Slade, as well as the Open College of the Arts, for much of his life he developed his theories and style under his own steam.He used unusual colour combinations and tones to express mood and atmosphere in his paintings, showing how unexpected pairings across the spectrum could produce surprisingly effective results.The range of works in the sale illustrates his consistent mastery of this technique, which not only creates psychological and emotional studies of great depth and sophistication, but also results in some highly attractive and decorative pieces.Born in Frodsham, Cheshire, young Michael was a sensitive child who developed a stammer following an unexceptional, but for him traumatic, classroom experience. The incident gave an early insight into his unusual perception of the world around, which included a highly developed appreciation for natural beauty.It also led to him being treated by the renowned therapist Lionel Logue, celebrated as King George VI's specialist in the multi-Oscar-winning film The King's Speech. Hutchings became friends with Logue's son who visited him in later years.Having studied medicine at Liverpool University, Hutchings signed up for the Army Medical Corps, serving in Italy, Morocco and Austria during the Second World War. During this time, he continued his practice of painting and drawing wherever he went, sending home for materials as he travelled across Europe.It was when he returned from the war and enrolled at Chelsea College of Art and then The Slade that he faced arguably the hardest decision of his life: whether to pursue a career in art or medicine. It is thought family pressure directed him to the latter and that pathology may have allowed him to pursue a career out of the public eye in the quiet of the laboratory and so saved him from exposing his intermittent stammer any more than he needed to.Working first at Whipps Cross Hospital, where he met his future wife Kitty, he moved to St Charles's Hospital in Ladbroke Grove, specialising in haematology, with a particular interest in sickle cell disease.Despite this, art was omnipresent, and after also studying at Putney School of Art and the Open School of Art, he became a member of the Royal Academy and exhibited at a number of shows over the years, where he sold works and won several competitions."He was fairly private and kept his art private generally, but everybody he knew knew he painted," says his daughter Katherine. "If he had gone for art as a career, I think he could have made a name for himself."She recalls him telling the family that painting was his first love, and weekends were spent visiting the latest exhibition. He was especially keen on new developments in art and 'the latest thing'.So important was painting to him that he even chose his children's school, Dartington Hall, because of its devotion to teaching art, says Katherine."Even into his nineties he would take himself off on public transport to the Tate and continued buying paintings," she says. "He only stopped painting about seven or eight years before he died."Hutchings' longevity might have been, in part, the result of his fitness. Continuing to run marathons into his eighties, in his early seventies he came second for his age group in the London Marathon.His was an extraordinary life and he left behind a rich and accomplished body of work that is in this sale now we are privileged to be able to present now-."The volume, range and quality of the works in the sale present a real opportunity to establish an ongoing market for Michael Hutchings. He may not have been able to pursue his first love as a career during his lifetime, but his talent certainly deserves significant recognition now."
After Henri Matisse. Barques a Collioure. A pair of limited edition lithographs, each from an edition of 500. Published by Sebastian Ceret. Each 40 x 58cm. Biography and ProvenanceFaced with a choice between art and medicine as a career after serving in the Second World war, the late Michael Hutchings (1918-2020) became a pathologist, working in London hospitals. However, he never abandoned his first love, painting, and kept an active studio wherever he lived, spending most of his adult live in Barnes, in the south west of the capital.He was an extraordinarily long-lived artist, who witnessed arguably the greatest period of development in Western art across his lifetime. When he was born, Vorticism and Cubism had only recently emerged, and by the time he died, aged 101, we had entered the age of Conceptual art, video art, NFTs and Banksy.Hutchings' contribution to the exploration of painting can largely be summed up in a single word: Colour. For him it was not simply a filler to assist in the expression of form, it was the form itself.Now works from his studio will be offered for the first timein this dedicated auction.The title of the sale pays tribute to his driving belief that it was the artist's job to let the colour express itself: The Michael Hutchings Collection: Let The Colour Do The Drawing.Whether landscapes, portraits, character studies, abstracts and semi-abstracts, Hutchings' mastery of the palette led to the creation of vibrant compositions where line and form were strictly defined by the use of block colour and colour shade. As in nature, he found no need for separate outline.Having trained at Chelsea College of Art and The Slade, as well as the Open College of the Arts, for much of his life he developed his theories and style under his own steam.He used unusual colour combinations and tones to express mood and atmosphere in his paintings, showing how unexpected pairings across the spectrum could produce surprisingly effective results.The range of works in the sale illustrates his consistent mastery of this technique, which not only creates psychological and emotional studies of great depth and sophistication, but also results in some highly attractive and decorative pieces.Born in Frodsham, Cheshire, young Michael was a sensitive child who developed a stammer following an unexceptional, but for him traumatic, classroom experience. The incident gave an early insight into his unusual perception of the world around, which included a highly developed appreciation for natural beauty.It also led to him being treated by the renowned therapist Lionel Logue, celebrated as King George VI's specialist in the multi-Oscar-winning film The King's Speech. Hutchings became friends with Logue's son who visited him in later years.Having studied medicine at Liverpool University, Hutchings signed up for the Army Medical Corps, serving in Italy, Morocco and Austria during the Second World War. During this time, he continued his practice of painting and drawing wherever he went, sending home for materials as he travelled across Europe.It was when he returned from the war and enrolled at Chelsea College of Art and then The Slade that he faced arguably the hardest decision of his life: whether to pursue a career in art or medicine. It is thought family pressure directed him to the latter and that pathology may have allowed him to pursue a career out of the public eye in the quiet of the laboratory and so saved him from exposing his intermittent stammer any more than he needed to.Working first at Whipps Cross Hospital, where he met his future wife Kitty, he moved to St Charles's Hospital in Ladbroke Grove, specialising in haematology, with a particular interest in sickle cell disease.Despite this, art was omnipresent, and after also studying at Putney School of Art and the Open School of Art, he became a member of the Royal Academy and exhibited at a number of shows over the years, where he sold works and won several competitions."He was fairly private and kept his art private generally, but everybody he knew knew he painted," says his daughter Katherine. "If he had gone for art as a career, I think he could have made a name for himself."She recalls him telling the family that painting was his first love, and weekends were spent visiting the latest exhibition. He was especially keen on new developments in art and 'the latest thing'.So important was painting to him that he even chose his children's school, Dartington Hall, because of its devotion to teaching art, says Katherine."Even into his nineties he would take himself off on public transport to the Tate and continued buying paintings," she says. "He only stopped painting about seven or eight years before he died."Hutchings' longevity might have been, in part, the result of his fitness. Continuing to run marathons into his eighties, in his early seventies he came second for his age group in the London Marathon.His was an extraordinary life and he left behind a rich and accomplished body of work that is in this sale now we are privileged to be able to present now-."The volume, range and quality of the works in the sale present a real opportunity to establish an ongoing market for Michael Hutchings. He may not have been able to pursue his first love as a career during his lifetime, but his talent certainly deserves significant recognition now."
After Jean Dubuffet. The Busy Life (La Vie Affaire). Photolithograph reproduction. 59 x 80cm.Biography and ProvenanceFaced with a choice between art and medicine as a career after serving in the Second World war, the late Michael Hutchings (1918-2020) became a pathologist, working in London hospitals. However, he never abandoned his first love, painting, and kept an active studio wherever he lived, spending most of his adult live in Barnes, in the south west of the capital.He was an extraordinarily long-lived artist, who witnessed arguably the greatest period of development in Western art across his lifetime. When he was born, Vorticism and Cubism had only recently emerged, and by the time he died, aged 101, we had entered the age of Conceptual art, video art, NFTs and Banksy.Hutchings' contribution to the exploration of painting can largely be summed up in a single word: Colour. For him it was not simply a filler to assist in the expression of form, it was the form itself.Now works from his studio will be offered for the first timein this dedicated auction.The title of the sale pays tribute to his driving belief that it was the artist's job to let the colour express itself: The Michael Hutchings Collection: Let The Colour Do The Drawing.Whether landscapes, portraits, character studies, abstracts and semi-abstracts, Hutchings' mastery of the palette led to the creation of vibrant compositions where line and form were strictly defined by the use of block colour and colour shade. As in nature, he found no need for separate outline.Having trained at Chelsea College of Art and The Slade, as well as the Open College of the Arts, for much of his life he developed his theories and style under his own steam.He used unusual colour combinations and tones to express mood and atmosphere in his paintings, showing how unexpected pairings across the spectrum could produce surprisingly effective results.The range of works in the sale illustrates his consistent mastery of this technique, which not only creates psychological and emotional studies of great depth and sophistication, but also results in some highly attractive and decorative pieces.Born in Frodsham, Cheshire, young Michael was a sensitive child who developed a stammer following an unexceptional, but for him traumatic, classroom experience. The incident gave an early insight into his unusual perception of the world around, which included a highly developed appreciation for natural beauty.It also led to him being treated by the renowned therapist Lionel Logue, celebrated as King George VI's specialist in the multi-Oscar-winning film The King's Speech. Hutchings became friends with Logue's son who visited him in later years.Having studied medicine at Liverpool University, Hutchings signed up for the Army Medical Corps, serving in Italy, Morocco and Austria during the Second World War. During this time, he continued his practice of painting and drawing wherever he went, sending home for materials as he travelled across Europe.It was when he returned from the war and enrolled at Chelsea College of Art and then The Slade that he faced arguably the hardest decision of his life: whether to pursue a career in art or medicine. It is thought family pressure directed him to the latter and that pathology may have allowed him to pursue a career out of the public eye in the quiet of the laboratory and so saved him from exposing his intermittent stammer any more than he needed to.Working first at Whipps Cross Hospital, where he met his future wife Kitty, he moved to St Charles's Hospital in Ladbroke Grove, specialising in haematology, with a particular interest in sickle cell disease.Despite this, art was omnipresent, and after also studying at Putney School of Art and the Open School of Art, he became a member of the Royal Academy and exhibited at a number of shows over the years, where he sold works and won several competitions."He was fairly private and kept his art private generally, but everybody he knew knew he painted," says his daughter Katherine. "If he had gone for art as a career, I think he could have made a name for himself."She recalls him telling the family that painting was his first love, and weekends were spent visiting the latest exhibition. He was especially keen on new developments in art and 'the latest thing'.So important was painting to him that he even chose his children's school, Dartington Hall, because of its devotion to teaching art, says Katherine."Even into his nineties he would take himself off on public transport to the Tate and continued buying paintings," she says. "He only stopped painting about seven or eight years before he died."Hutchings' longevity might have been, in part, the result of his fitness. Continuing to run marathons into his eighties, in his early seventies he came second for his age group in the London Marathon.His was an extraordinary life and he left behind a rich and accomplished body of work that is in this sale now we are privileged to be able to present now-."The volume, range and quality of the works in the sale present a real opportunity to establish an ongoing market for Michael Hutchings. He may not have been able to pursue his first love as a career during his lifetime, but his talent certainly deserves significant recognition now."
Michael Hutchings (British, 1918-2020). Attic Shore. Ltd Edition lithograph, number 2 of 2. Signed lower right, labelled verso. 52 x 65cm.Biography and ProvenanceFaced with a choice between art and medicine as a career after serving in the Second World war, the late Michael Hutchings (1918-2020) became a pathologist, working in London hospitals. However, he never abandoned his first love, painting, and kept an active studio wherever he lived, spending most of his adult live in Barnes, in the south west of the capital.He was an extraordinarily long-lived artist, who witnessed arguably the greatest period of development in Western art across his lifetime. When he was born, Vorticism and Cubism had only recently emerged, and by the time he died, aged 101, we had entered the age of Conceptual art, video art, NFTs and Banksy.Hutchings' contribution to the exploration of painting can largely be summed up in a single word: Colour. For him it was not simply a filler to assist in the expression of form, it was the form itself.Now works from his studio will be offered for the first timein this dedicated auction.The title of the sale pays tribute to his driving belief that it was the artist's job to let the colour express itself: The Michael Hutchings Collection: Let The Colour Do The Drawing.Whether landscapes, portraits, character studies, abstracts and semi-abstracts, Hutchings' mastery of the palette led to the creation of vibrant compositions where line and form were strictly defined by the use of block colour and colour shade. As in nature, he found no need for separate outline.Having trained at Chelsea College of Art and The Slade, as well as the Open College of the Arts, for much of his life he developed his theories and style under his own steam.He used unusual colour combinations and tones to express mood and atmosphere in his paintings, showing how unexpected pairings across the spectrum could produce surprisingly effective results.The range of works in the sale illustrates his consistent mastery of this technique, which not only creates psychological and emotional studies of great depth and sophistication, but also results in some highly attractive and decorative pieces.Born in Frodsham, Cheshire, young Michael was a sensitive child who developed a stammer following an unexceptional, but for him traumatic, classroom experience. The incident gave an early insight into his unusual perception of the world around, which included a highly developed appreciation for natural beauty.It also led to him being treated by the renowned therapist Lionel Logue, celebrated as King George VI's specialist in the multi-Oscar-winning film The King's Speech. Hutchings became friends with Logue's son who visited him in later years.Having studied medicine at Liverpool University, Hutchings signed up for the Army Medical Corps, serving in Italy, Morocco and Austria during the Second World War. During this time, he continued his practice of painting and drawing wherever he went, sending home for materials as he travelled across Europe.It was when he returned from the war and enrolled at Chelsea College of Art and then The Slade that he faced arguably the hardest decision of his life: whether to pursue a career in art or medicine. It is thought family pressure directed him to the latter and that pathology may have allowed him to pursue a career out of the public eye in the quiet of the laboratory and so saved him from exposing his intermittent stammer any more than he needed to.Working first at Whipps Cross Hospital, where he met his future wife Kitty, he moved to St Charles's Hospital in Ladbroke Grove, specialising in haematology, with a particular interest in sickle cell disease.Despite this, art was omnipresent, and after also studying at Putney School of Art and the Open School of Art, he became a member of the Royal Academy and exhibited at a number of shows over the years, where he sold works and won several competitions."He was fairly private and kept his art private generally, but everybody he knew knew he painted," says his daughter Katherine. "If he had gone for art as a career, I think he could have made a name for himself."She recalls him telling the family that painting was his first love, and weekends were spent visiting the latest exhibition. He was especially keen on new developments in art and 'the latest thing'.So important was painting to him that he even chose his children's school, Dartington Hall, because of its devotion to teaching art, says Katherine."Even into his nineties he would take himself off on public transport to the Tate and continued buying paintings," she says. "He only stopped painting about seven or eight years before he died."Hutchings' longevity might have been, in part, the result of his fitness. Continuing to run marathons into his eighties, in his early seventies he came second for his age group in the London Marathon.His was an extraordinary life and he left behind a rich and accomplished body of work that is in this sale now we are privileged to be able to present now-."The volume, range and quality of the works in the sale present a real opportunity to establish an ongoing market for Michael Hutchings. He may not have been able to pursue his first love as a career during his lifetime, but his talent certainly deserves significant recognition now."
After Georges Braque. Nature Morte. Vintage print. 47 x 65cm. Biography and ProvenanceFaced with a choice between art and medicine as a career after serving in the Second World war, the late Michael Hutchings (1918-2020) became a pathologist, working in London hospitals. However, he never abandoned his first love, painting, and kept an active studio wherever he lived, spending most of his adult live in Barnes, in the south west of the capital.He was an extraordinarily long-lived artist, who witnessed arguably the greatest period of development in Western art across his lifetime. When he was born, Vorticism and Cubism had only recently emerged, and by the time he died, aged 101, we had entered the age of Conceptual art, video art, NFTs and Banksy.Hutchings' contribution to the exploration of painting can largely be summed up in a single word: Colour. For him it was not simply a filler to assist in the expression of form, it was the form itself.Now works from his studio will be offered for the first timein this dedicated auction.The title of the sale pays tribute to his driving belief that it was the artist's job to let the colour express itself: The Michael Hutchings Collection: Let The Colour Do The Drawing.Whether landscapes, portraits, character studies, abstracts and semi-abstracts, Hutchings' mastery of the palette led to the creation of vibrant compositions where line and form were strictly defined by the use of block colour and colour shade. As in nature, he found no need for separate outline.Having trained at Chelsea College of Art and The Slade, as well as the Open College of the Arts, for much of his life he developed his theories and style under his own steam.He used unusual colour combinations and tones to express mood and atmosphere in his paintings, showing how unexpected pairings across the spectrum could produce surprisingly effective results.The range of works in the sale illustrates his consistent mastery of this technique, which not only creates psychological and emotional studies of great depth and sophistication, but also results in some highly attractive and decorative pieces.Born in Frodsham, Cheshire, young Michael was a sensitive child who developed a stammer following an unexceptional, but for him traumatic, classroom experience. The incident gave an early insight into his unusual perception of the world around, which included a highly developed appreciation for natural beauty.It also led to him being treated by the renowned therapist Lionel Logue, celebrated as King George VI's specialist in the multi-Oscar-winning film The King's Speech. Hutchings became friends with Logue's son who visited him in later years.Having studied medicine at Liverpool University, Hutchings signed up for the Army Medical Corps, serving in Italy, Morocco and Austria during the Second World War. During this time, he continued his practice of painting and drawing wherever he went, sending home for materials as he travelled across Europe.It was when he returned from the war and enrolled at Chelsea College of Art and then The Slade that he faced arguably the hardest decision of his life: whether to pursue a career in art or medicine. It is thought family pressure directed him to the latter and that pathology may have allowed him to pursue a career out of the public eye in the quiet of the laboratory and so saved him from exposing his intermittent stammer any more than he needed to.Working first at Whipps Cross Hospital, where he met his future wife Kitty, he moved to St Charles's Hospital in Ladbroke Grove, specialising in haematology, with a particular interest in sickle cell disease.Despite this, art was omnipresent, and after also studying at Putney School of Art and the Open School of Art, he became a member of the Royal Academy and exhibited at a number of shows over the years, where he sold works and won several competitions."He was fairly private and kept his art private generally, but everybody he knew knew he painted," says his daughter Katherine. "If he had gone for art as a career, I think he could have made a name for himself."She recalls him telling the family that painting was his first love, and weekends were spent visiting the latest exhibition. He was especially keen on new developments in art and 'the latest thing'.So important was painting to him that he even chose his children's school, Dartington Hall, because of its devotion to teaching art, says Katherine."Even into his nineties he would take himself off on public transport to the Tate and continued buying paintings," she says. "He only stopped painting about seven or eight years before he died."Hutchings' longevity might have been, in part, the result of his fitness. Continuing to run marathons into his eighties, in his early seventies he came second for his age group in the London Marathon.His was an extraordinary life and he left behind a rich and accomplished body of work that is in this sale now we are privileged to be able to present now-."The volume, range and quality of the works in the sale present a real opportunity to establish an ongoing market for Michael Hutchings. He may not have been able to pursue his first love as a career during his lifetime, but his talent certainly deserves significant recognition now."
Emma Davis, Green Belt Relay 2009. Signed LE print, 55/100. 24 x 33cm. Plus another framed print. (2). Biography and ProvenanceFaced with a choice between art and medicine as a career after serving in the Second World war, the late Michael Hutchings (1918-2020) became a pathologist, working in London hospitals. However, he never abandoned his first love, painting, and kept an active studio wherever he lived, spending most of his adult live in Barnes, in the south west of the capital.He was an extraordinarily long-lived artist, who witnessed arguably the greatest period of development in Western art across his lifetime. When he was born, Vorticism and Cubism had only recently emerged, and by the time he died, aged 101, we had entered the age of Conceptual art, video art, NFTs and Banksy.Hutchings' contribution to the exploration of painting can largely be summed up in a single word: Colour. For him it was not simply a filler to assist in the expression of form, it was the form itself.Now works from his studio will be offered for the first timein this dedicated auction.The title of the sale pays tribute to his driving belief that it was the artist's job to let the colour express itself: The Michael Hutchings Collection: Let The Colour Do The Drawing.Whether landscapes, portraits, character studies, abstracts and semi-abstracts, Hutchings' mastery of the palette led to the creation of vibrant compositions where line and form were strictly defined by the use of block colour and colour shade. As in nature, he found no need for separate outline.Having trained at Chelsea College of Art and The Slade, as well as the Open College of the Arts, for much of his life he developed his theories and style under his own steam.He used unusual colour combinations and tones to express mood and atmosphere in his paintings, showing how unexpected pairings across the spectrum could produce surprisingly effective results.The range of works in the sale illustrates his consistent mastery of this technique, which not only creates psychological and emotional studies of great depth and sophistication, but also results in some highly attractive and decorative pieces.Born in Frodsham, Cheshire, young Michael was a sensitive child who developed a stammer following an unexceptional, but for him traumatic, classroom experience. The incident gave an early insight into his unusual perception of the world around, which included a highly developed appreciation for natural beauty.It also led to him being treated by the renowned therapist Lionel Logue, celebrated as King George VI's specialist in the multi-Oscar-winning film The King's Speech. Hutchings became friends with Logue's son who visited him in later years.Having studied medicine at Liverpool University, Hutchings signed up for the Army Medical Corps, serving in Italy, Morocco and Austria during the Second World War. During this time, he continued his practice of painting and drawing wherever he went, sending home for materials as he travelled across Europe.It was when he returned from the war and enrolled at Chelsea College of Art and then The Slade that he faced arguably the hardest decision of his life: whether to pursue a career in art or medicine. It is thought family pressure directed him to the latter and that pathology may have allowed him to pursue a career out of the public eye in the quiet of the laboratory and so saved him from exposing his intermittent stammer any more than he needed to.Working first at Whipps Cross Hospital, where he met his future wife Kitty, he moved to St Charles's Hospital in Ladbroke Grove, specialising in haematology, with a particular interest in sickle cell disease.Despite this, art was omnipresent, and after also studying at Putney School of Art and the Open School of Art, he became a member of the Royal Academy and exhibited at a number of shows over the years, where he sold works and won several competitions."He was fairly private and kept his art private generally, but everybody he knew knew he painted," says his daughter Katherine. "If he had gone for art as a career, I think he could have made a name for himself."She recalls him telling the family that painting was his first love, and weekends were spent visiting the latest exhibition. He was especially keen on new developments in art and 'the latest thing'.So important was painting to him that he even chose his children's school, Dartington Hall, because of its devotion to teaching art, says Katherine."Even into his nineties he would take himself off on public transport to the Tate and continued buying paintings," she says. "He only stopped painting about seven or eight years before he died."Hutchings' longevity might have been, in part, the result of his fitness. Continuing to run marathons into his eighties, in his early seventies he came second for his age group in the London Marathon.His was an extraordinary life and he left behind a rich and accomplished body of work that is in this sale now we are privileged to be able to present now-."The volume, range and quality of the works in the sale present a real opportunity to establish an ongoing market for Michael Hutchings. He may not have been able to pursue his first love as a career during his lifetime, but his talent certainly deserves significant recognition now."
Cigarette & trade cards, a selection of sets, Anon, Medals, plain backs, Victoria Gallery, Wills, Waterloo (reproduction), Wills, Allied Army Leaders, Britain's Part in The War, Lambert & Butler, Interesting Customs & Traditions of the Army, Navy & Air Force, Empire Air Routes, Player's Regimental Uniforms, Lingford & Son, British War Leaders, Aircraft of the Royal Air Force, Tony L Oliver, German Orders & Decorations, Churchman's, The R.A.F At Work, 'L' size, (gen gd)
Postcards, a good mixed subject and UK topographical collection of 99 cards in modern album, incl. RPs of Cardiff Rd Caerphilly, Cross St Abergavenny, Canon St Aberdare, Tal-y-Llyn station Towyn, Station Rd Narbeth, Charles St Milford Haven, Railway at Ashley Down Bristol etc. Subjects incl. Harry Payne illustrated Tuck published 'British Army' No 113, greetings (dice), Barham (4), nudes (art (2)), b/w Fantasy heads (skull (2), Napoleon, Un Faune), black humour (2), Santa HTL (small crease), chickens etc (mixed condition, fair/gd)
Trade cards, a mixed selection of 7 sets, Joseph Lingford & Son Ltd, British War Leaders, E & S CWS , Peeps into History, Robertson Ltd Preserves Sporting Golly (shaped) (set, 10), Primrose Confectionery, Superman (series of 50), & Dads Army (set, 25), Pukka Tea Co, Aquarium Fish & Farm to Door Supplies, Cathedrals of Great Britain (series of 25) (gen vg)
Cigarette cards, Military, a selection of sets, Carreras, History of Army Uniforms, Gallaher, Army Badges, Player's, Badges & Flags of British Regiments, Decorations & Medals, War Decorations & Medals, Victoria Cross, Army Life, Phillips, British Orders of Chivalry & Valour, Ogden's, Orders of Chivalry, Wills, Scissors, Heroic Deeds, Wills, Military Motors, Player, Doncella, History of the VC (mostly gd/vg)
Books, Paul Brinklow, Gale & Polden Collection, a selection of 12 Military and Naval books and programmes incl. Aldershot Tattoo programmes for 1935 (2), 1937, 38 and 1939. Souvenir programme for 1935. Also Collecting British Army Postcards by Geoff White (2005), British Army Uniforms in Colour by Peter Hamilton (2001), Jane's Fighting Warships of WW1 (1992), ABC of Royal Navy by Herbert Russell (Fair) Gale and Polden published, Regimental Nicknames & Traditions of British Army (1915) published by Gale and Polden, Royal Military College Magazine and Records Xmas 1928 (cover fair, contents gd) published by Gale and Polden
Cigarette cards, Military, 15 scarce type cards Hill's Fragments from France (2, 1 coloured & 1 buff), Types of the British Army (2 cards, nos 17 & 20), Player's, Military Series, (2 cards nos 32 & 40), Old England's Defenders (3 cards nos 21, 40 & 47), England's Naval Heroes (descriptive, wide) (2, Lucas & White), Muratti, Japanese Series (printed back, 2) & Salmon & Gluckstein, Heroes of the Transvaal War (2, Baden-Powell & Col. Kekewich) (gd)
Magazines, a selection, 16 issues of Fragments from France by Bruce Bairnsfather including 5 duplicates sold with 5 issues of The Army & Navy Illustrated all from 1896 (ex binder, no covers) & 9 issues of The Sphere dated between 1900 and 1913 (all ex binder issues) (mixed condition, fair/gd)
Militaria, to include amateur watercolours of uniforms (70+), 1937 Manual of Horsemanship with Kings African Rifles Animal Transport Troop library stamp, book Celebrities of the British Army, published by George Newnes Ltd. 1900 with multiple colour plates inc. Colonel Robert Baden-Powell, Royal Engineers wooden cigarette box, WW2 W.A.A.F.S. autograph book (1941 Melksham Camp), WW1 and later illustrated autograph book, military photographs, 'Jennifer Joins The A.T.S.' booklet, 120+ modern military postcards etc. (gen gd) (approx. 120)
λ George Bissill (British 1896-1973)Miners Oil on canvasSigned (lower left)34 x 41cm (13¼ x 16 in.)George Bissill was born in Fairford Gloucestershire, but the family soon moved to the mining village of Langley Mill in Derbyshire where his father worked as a railway brakesman. At 13 George was sent down the mines, where he worked, initially with pit ponies, then at the coal face, until 1915 when he joined the Kings Royal Rifles (First Battalion) to fight in the First World War. He had hoped to escape the underground life but as an ex-miner he was immediately trained to be a sapper, tunnelling, defusing mines and laying mines under enemy lines. While working near Béthune in France, he suffered a catastrophic tunnel collapse and later in the war he was badly gassed. In 1918 he was invalided out of the army.With his army pension, he spent a few months at Nottingham School of Art, but he had already developed his own distinctive style and subject matter, saying later that the pit was the only art school he needed.He arrived in London in 1922 and took a pitch as a pavement artist outside Bush House, which was just being constructed. There he was 'spotted' by a member of the Arts League of Service, who in 1924 took a portfolio of his mining drawings around the country for exhibition.Soon after this, the newly established Redfern Gallery in Bond Street offered him an exhibition, which opened to great critical acclaim in April 1925. Bissill immediately became extremely famous causing a sensation with his pictures of miners toiling underground, a subject matter which was new to the London Art Scene and was ten years before the Pitmen Painters came to fame. The show was reviewed by all the major art critics and newspapers. Other exhibitions at The Redfern Gallery followed and Bissill worked successfully in London for the next 5-6 years.Soon after the first exhibition opened in 1925 Bissill met the ballet critic, writer and art collector Arnold Haskell, who took him on a visit to Paris. Here Bissill learnt the art of wood engraving, producing some of his finest work, and expanded his subject matter to include ballet dancers, harlequins, set designs and pictures of Parisian life.Condition Report: The canvas is not relined. There are some patches of craquelure throughout, notably to the centre and centre left of the composition and a further small area lower right. Ultraviolet light reveals no evidence of retouching. Condition Report Disclaimer
Dinky France #651 Centurion Tank Green Rubber Tracks And Rotating Turret In Box 1954-1970 Near Mint In Excellent Box The Centurion Was The Primary British Army Main Battle Tank Of The Post-World War II Period. Introduced In 1945, It Is Widely Considered To Be One Of The Most Successful Post-War Tank Designs, Remaining In Production Into The 1960s, And Seeing Combat In The Front Lines Into The 1980s.

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