40 x 30 cm | 15 x 11 in
Subject: Landscapes & Nature
Original painting in oil on paper.
Materials used: Oil on paper mounted on board
The dripping, swirling, brushing and scraping of paint in Henrietta Clavering’s works produces textured surfaces: the surface drama of grass, fur, water. Earthy tones are tinged at times with an other-wordly glow, not unlike the ever shifting, sometimes miraculous character of the light when it dapples through nature. The distinct style the artist has carved for herself draws on harmony through elements, as well as impressionism, to convey the sense of ancient landscapes: the shapes of ridges, hills, valleys that one intuitively recognises. Her work recalls Hans Hofmann’s abstractions and Sarah Hinckley’s Colour Field paintings.
Shapes, colours, textures are both elemental and sophisticated in Clavering’s work, conveying the satisfaction – at once exhilarating and soothing – of being in nature. Her work The Walk brings to mind the Wilton diptych – the beloved 14th century image now in the National Gallery in London – which shows the elegance and tenderness of the white stag’s outline, like that of the greyhound in The Walk.