Alfred Hitchens (27 November 1861 – 5 October 1942) was an English painter, father, grandfather and great grandfather of artists

Ivon Hitchens Ivon Hitchens (born London, 3 March 1893 – 29 August 1979) was an English painter who started exhibiting during the 1920s. He became part of the 'London Group' of artists and exhibited with them during the 1930s. His house was bombed in 1940 d ...

John Hitchens John Hitchens (born 1940) is an English painter. His work is influenced by the landscape of the South Downs and his main subject area is the countryside of West Sussex, England. He also spent extended periods working in North Wales and North West ...

and Simon Hitchens respectively. His work was regularly exhibited at the

Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

Biography

Alfred Hitchens was born in

Peckham Rye Peckham Rye is an open space and road in the London Borough of Southwark, London, England. The roughly triangular open space lies to the south of Peckham and consists of two contiguous areas, Peckham Rye Common to the north and Peckham Rye Park t ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

(now London). He entered the South Kensington School of Art in 1877, followed by studies in Paris, at the

Académie Julian The () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907). The school was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number and qual ...

and in Rome. He married Ethel Margareth Seth-Smith in 1887 and toured Italy and southern Germany.Peter Khoroche: ''Ivon Hitchens''; Lund Humphries, 2014. He gained early recognition, aged 21, at a National Competition of Schools of Art. The London ''Daily News'' reported: "among the gold medallists, the first prize for an oil painting from the nude having been gained by Mr Alfred Hitchens, a very young man". After 1887, Hitchens came to exhibit regularly at the Royal Academy. His work is described in ''The Morning Post'' as: "a worthy recruit to the classic art is to be found in Mr Alfred Hitchens" and "his cleverly painted picture ''The Shadow of a Vow''". More recently, in a biography of his son,

, his paintings of that period are characterised as "in the academic mainstream of the day ... Classical mythology alternating with the sentimentalised rustic realism of the school of Bastien-Lepage". He exhibited regularly in pastels at Walker's Gallery and the

Fine Art Society The Fine Art Society is a gallery based in both London and in Edinburgh's New Town (originally Bourne Fine Art, established 1978). The New Bond Street, London gallery closed its doors in August 2018 after being occupied by The Fine Art Society ...

, London, in the early 1900s. Hitchens was also noted as a portrait painter for work such as his "well-executed portrait of Mr George Hitchcock, the painter", or ''An Officer of the Machine Gun Corps'', now at the

National Army Museum The National Army Museum is the British Army's central museum. It is located in the Chelsea district of central London, adjacent to the Royal Hospital Chelsea, the home of the " Chelsea Pensioners". The museum is a non-departmental public bod ...

. He died at a nursing home in

Midhurst Midhurst () is a market town and civil parish in the Chichester District in West Sussex, England. It lies on the River Rother (Western), River Rother, inland from the English Channel and north of Chichester. The name Midhurst was first reco ...

, West Sussex. He was married to Ethel Margaret Seth-Smith, the sister of the architect William Howard Seth-Smith. Both his son

and his grandson

followed his profession as painters. His great-grandson, Simon Hitchens, is a sculptor. Exhibitions featuring work by Alfred Hitchens,

and Simon Hitchens were held at Kevis House Gallery in

Petworth Petworth is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Chichester (district), Chichester District of West Sussex, England. It is located at the junction of the A272 road, A272 east–west road from Heathfield, East Sussex, Heat ...

in 2019, and at

Southampton City Art Gallery The Southampton City Art Gallery is an art gallery in Southampton, southern England. It is located in the Civic Centre on Commercial Road. The gallery opened in 1939 with much of the initial funding from the gallery coming from two bequests, o ...

in 2022–23.

Work in public collections

His most widely known painting, ''The Legend of the Christmas Rose'', is in the collection of the church of Montclair, near New York City, US. The model for the painting was his son, Ivon Hitchens. Work in the UK can be seen at the National Army Museum and at

.https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/spring-324676

References

External links

National Art Library, catalogue entries for Alfred Hitchens

Artprice on Alfred Hitchens

Bonhams: paintings by Alfred Hitchens

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hitchens, Alfred 1942 deaths 1861 births 19th-century English painters 20th-century English painters Painters from London