Adrian Hill (1895-1977) Oil on Panel

Adrian Hill is a fascinating British artist, not only highly accomplished - as illustrated in this particular image of the Sussex coastline. A large oil on panel, in the impressionistic style that has captured the essence of the shoreline and the light and textures so individual to these panoramas.

This picture is dated 1971 (near the end of his life) and is a dramatic large oil painting in its original frame (overall frame 88 cm by 68 cm, image area 74 cm by 55 cm)

Hill has, as a truly dedicated professional artist, contributed immensely to the way art plays such a valuable part in our lives, As an artist he claims fame as being the first to be commissioned by the Imperial war museum to record the images of the first world war, he had served in the Honourable Artillery Company during the conflict and recorded/ drew on the spot what he saw from the front line and the trenches, giving him a unique insight into the images of the conflict. During his lifetime he was able to combine his art with writing on the subject, mainstream television art broadcaster, as well as a teacher and lecturer, but perhaps his most laudable claim was in 1942 the foundation of what Adrian Hill coined the term ‘art therapy’. Although his work had humble beginnings, Hill’s influence spread as more people joined him in promoting healing through the arts. In the mid-1940s, the National Association for the Prevention of Tuberculosis implemented an art therapy program in over seventy hospitals and sanatoria (Hill, 1945, p.105). But this was only the beginning of Hill’s vision. In 1964, the British Association of Art Therapists was founded. Hill, along with other influential members of the field, was instrumental in paving the way for future generations of art therapists, the impact then on post world war victims and on the general health and well being of patients is considerable.