Clarke Hutton

(British, 1898-1984)

Pavilion 15.3 x 26.9 cm. (6 x 10 1/2 in.)

Footnotes

Provenance
The Artist, by whom gifted to the present owners
Private Collection, U.K.

Stanley Clarke Hutton is today remembered for his exploration of a number of different avenues in the visual arts. In 1916, at 18 years old, he became assistant stage designer at the Empire Theatre on Leicester Square, a position he held until the venue was taken over by Metro Goldwyn Mayer in 1928. After an intervening trip to Italy that somewhat inspired his dedication to become a full time visual artist, Hutton joined the lithography class run by A.S. Hartrick at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London, taking over the teaching of the class after Hartrick's retirement until his own in 1968. Using the class as a springboard of innovation, Hutton developed a refined technique of autolithography, something he deployed in collaboration with Noel Carrington at the publishing house Penguin in the production of affordable, illustrated children's books.

It is, however, Hutton's interest in Surrealism that is most intriguing from the present perspective. An influence taken on board at a more mature stage of his career, Hutton started to produce abstracted, geometrically complex compositions that caught the attention of Roland Penrose, a vital figure at the heart of the Surrealist movement in Britain and the owner of the London Gallery at that time. In his later years, Hutton was exhibited by Penrose at the London Gallery, as well as at the Redfern Gallery and the Royal Academy.