Adam's THE LIBRARY COLLECTION 1st May 2024

120 The scale of the work is also unusual, given his other works of this period, which are tighter and more constrained. A large portion of the composition is taken over with an expanse of blue sky, while the cliff face, town and beachfront occupy a small fraction of the overall composition. It serves to create a broad expansive panorama, infusing the scene with a more dramatic element than otherwise might have been achieved with a smaller composition. Other examples of his work while living in Étretat follow a more sinister note, though still working within the theme of the sea- side and marine life. These works may suggest a greater aware- ness or acceptance of the impending threat of violence, darker in tone and showing empty beaches, no longer enjoyed by hol- iday makers or used by local fishermen. Such as The Beach at Yport (fig 1), another seaside port up along the coast which Hill- ier visited many times, or Fishing Craft at Étretat 1939 (National Gallery of Canada). A recurring theme of abandonment is typical of his paintings of this period. Objects are washed up on beaches, items of clothing left behind and by focusing in on them and using them as props, they are shown out of context in order to produce an element of visual suspense. Hillier had settled in Normandy in 1937 with his second wife Leda. They had met while both were travelling through Austria. She was there with her father Captain Sydney Hardcastle, a retired Anglo-Irish naval engineer. The two married soon after meeting, Hillier was apparently strongly attracted to Leda’s solid ‘country’ values.[2] Leda’s mother, who died shortly after her daughter’s birth, was from County Cork and Leda had spent her childhood in the south of Ireland looked after by her aunts. In the village of Criquetot-l’Esneval near Étretat they came upon a wonderful 18th century house called l’Ormerie which is beautiful- ly depicted in The Painter at Home (1940) (fig 2) showing the newly married couple and their two dogs surrounded by the elm trees from which the house derived its name. As they could not afford the property themselves, Leda’s father generously purchased the house for them. However, their French idyll ended abruptly when they were compelled to flee the town in the early summer of 1940 with the very near threat of German invasion from advancing forces. Once the war ended the Hilliers were immediately travelling again, first to Normandy in September 1945 to see their abandoned home. Their maid Henriette filled them in on how l’Ormerie, in their absence, was ransacked by the German forces. Thankfully for Hillier, Henriette had removed the paintings from his studio and hidden them in the house of a neighbour, Monsieur Layet. Hillier reveals in letters to Dudley Tooth in May 1945 that they were kept in Monsieur Layet’s house for the duration of the war before being handed over to his lawyer Monsieur Maujean. The recovery of the paintings was very important particularly from an economic standpoint, providing much needed financial sup- port for the family. Following a period of intense negotiation with the Board of Trade in the UK, they were finally granted permission for the pictures painted prior to his departure from France to be imported into the UK. There were 51 artworks in total to be shipped, including this present example. They left Étretat bound for London on 7th March 1946. Arrangements were made for an exhibition of the works with his dealer Dudley Tooth of Arthur Tooth & Sons, which had initially been planned for 1940. The exhibition ran from May 7th - June 1st, 1946, at their gallery on 31 Bruton Street. It was a hugely suc- cessful show for Hillier and he sold all of the works. Hillier wrote of it, ‘My exhibition was as successful as I could have wished. All the pictures were sold within a few days while the critics were in some cases complimentary and in others exceedingly abusive, so that their reactions were without exception gratifying’.[3] Another condition of the import license was that Hillier would take up permanent residency in the UK, and the family settled in Som- erset. He continued to enjoy trips abroad, particularly in Spain and Portugal and closer to home he spent time in Ireland. Travel was a refuge for Hillier, an opportunity to escape his ordinary life and it fed his artistic output greatly. A wonderful work made in 1947, shortly after his return from France, depicts the harbour in Galway city (fig 3). A Guinness brewery is visible in the distance, Hillier once again employing elements of text within his paintings. Similar to Étretat, smaller narratives unfold within the larger landscape TristramHillier (1905 – 1983) The Painter at Home, 1940, Oil on panel, 20 x 26cm ©Estate of Paul TristamHillier. All rights reserved 2024 / Bridgeman Images Property from an Important Private Collection