The Artist and the Fire

About the painting itself as a painting forgetting about its history we're talking about what I would call a mid period Hitchens that's to say they are paintings that he painted between 1940 and 1960 ;and it's already fully [accomplished] He'd already invented his own very personal and in fact unique way of rendering landscape and he was already [a master]. He'd already had many solo exhibitions not only in England but abroad and in this very year (1956) he was representing Great Britain at the Venice Biennale [Biennial Art Festival] so this isn't a ‘tight race’ work at all - he's already in full flow. But there are two human figures in it which are quite unclear and it is unusual it might be unique you know in a landscape painting by Hitchens; and the two figures are Ted Floate here a woodsman and his mate, Peter - who are in the act of chopping down a chestnut tree to make stakes to build field fences. They have a little fire here to keep themselves warm but Ted and Peter went off for lunch leaving the fire burning. Hitchens arrived on the scene and saw the fire got very worried because the whole area is very thickly forested and could have caught fire and burnt to the ground. He went home which was only a couple of hundred yards away and filled his kettle with water and came back doused the fire. He awaited the two unsuspecting woodsmen who returned. They were not angry apparently but incredibly nice. I would have been extremely annoyed if I my fire had been put out by an interloper not even on his own land! Ivon was a cautious person and he took no risks in life. He may have taken risks in painting but he took no risks in life and he said that this fire could have destroyed not merely the forest but his house and the paintings in it so he had got a point. Except that this fire had been in a open space and could not possibly have done any damage at all. Anyway not only did the fire die down but so did the animosity between the me. To the extent that Ivon ended up by asking Ted whether he would come and do some work for him. Following their meeting, Ted Floate the woodcutter and Ivon Hitchens became close companions until the artist's death in 1979. Ted worked for Hitchens on the artist's estate and also helped with framing of the paintings and even technical advice. Hitchens regularly gave his friend paintings and drawings, which even in those days was a considerable gift, filling Ted's cottage with an amazing collection of Modern British Romantic art. At 85, Ted has now decided to sell. Interest in Hitchens continues to strengthen. Recently an Ivon Hitchens oil painting sold at Christie's for a world record price of just over £250,000. 关于绘画本身作为一幅忘记其历史的绘画，我们谈论的是我称之为中期的Hitchens，也就是说它们是他在1940年到1960年之间绘画的画作;而且它已经完全[已完成]他已经发明了他自己非常个人化，实际上是独特的渲染风景的方式，他已经是[大师]了。他已经在英国和国外举办过多次个展，在这一年（1956年），他代表英国参加威尼斯双年展[双年展艺术节]，所以这不是一场“紧张的竞赛”工作 - 他已经全力以赴。但其中有两个人物形象尚不清楚，而且你在Hitchens的风景画中知道它可能是独一无二的。这两个人物是Ted Floate，这里是一个森林人和他的伙伴，正在砍伐一棵栗树，制造用于建造田野围栏的赌注的Peter。他们在这里有点火，以保持自己的温暖，但Ted和Peter去吃午饭让火燃烧。 Hitchens到达现场后看到火灾非常令人担忧，因为整个地区森林茂密，可能着火并烧毁到地面。他回到家只有几百码远的地方，给他的水壶装满了水，然后回来浇火。他等待着两位不知情的森林人回来。他们显然没有生气，但非常好。如果我的火被闯入者熄灭，我甚至在他自己的土地上，我会非常恼火！ Ivon是一个谨慎的人，他没有冒生命危险。他可能在绘画中冒了风险，但他没有冒生命危险，他说这场大火不仅可以摧毁森林，还可以摧毁他的房子和里面的画作，所以他得到了一点。除了这场火灾已经在一片空地上，并且根本不可能造成任何损害。无论如何，火灾不仅消失了，而且我之间的敌意也消失了。在某种程度上，Ivon告诉Ted他是否会来为他做一些工作。在他们的会面之后，樵夫Ted Floate和Ivon Hitchens成为了亲密的伙伴，直到1979年艺术家去世。Ted在艺术家的庄园为Hitchens工作，并帮助绘制画作甚至技术建议。Hitchens经常给他的朋友绘画，即使在那些日子里也是一个相当大的礼物，给Ted的小屋充满了现代英国浪漫主义艺术的惊人收藏。 85岁时，Ted现在决定出售。对Hitchens的兴趣继续增强。最近，一件Ivon Hitchens油画在佳士得拍卖会上以创纪录的价格超过25万英镑。