2 August 2017

gladys-hynes-noahs-ark

Gladys Hynes (1888-1958)painted Noah’s Ark in 1919, it is now in a private collection and ‘has not been exhibited for decades’ and ‘her work is little known’ (Catalogue). It was in fact last exhibited in June 1927 and was on sale for 100 guineas. ‘The work is highly original; with its well defined outlines, clearly delineated areas of bold and vigorous colour and hard-edged imagery it shows the influence of Vorticism (Hynes was friends with Ezra Pound). The critic P G Konody also saw the influence of the Italian Renaissance in Hynes’s work, writing in 1922, ‘her assumed naivete, backed by consummate draughtsmanship, is perfectly delightful, her sense of humour probably unique among women artists’ (Liss Llewellyn). (The remark about sense of humour is faintly patronising – one can think of so many women painters who make one smile – but hey ho.)