Court

Norman Hyams (1966 - )

oil on linen

2018

Share this:

License this image

Reproduction of image restricted by copyright
  • About the work
    Location
    Country: UK
    City: London
    Place: Government Art Collection

    Like a zoomed in camera shot, 'Court', a painting by Norman Hyams, focuses attention on a corner of a lawn tennis court. Its pristine green surface is crisscrossed by perfect white lines while a more irregular black line seems to suggest the edge of the court, the space where a ball person usually waits to retrieve played balls. 


    This painting relates to Hyams’ memories of visiting the All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon as a young man; and also to his relationship with his father and older brother. A large-scale and meditative work, 'Court' was exhibited as part of ‘Serious Pursuits’, a solo presentation at Hannah Barry Gallery in 2018. The painting is inspired by Hyams’ relationship to his father and older brother. As a young adult, Hyams would frequent the lush green lawns of the All England Lawn Tennis Club at Wimbledon, an environment and energy he had not been used to as a boy. It was in the tiers of Centre Court that Hyams experienced its cinematic intensity, a proclivity for form and colour ignited by fields of jade and white brushstrokes.


    Hyams was inspired to create this work after coming across an image of a tennis court in a magazine cutting in his studio. An admirer of the artistic work of the late Raoul De Keyser, Hyams was drawn to the abstract qualities and power of the image. In his own painting, he combines personal memories of Wimbledon with a nod to minimalist and colour-field works of mid-20th century painting.

  • Explore
    Places
    Wimbledon, All England Lawn Tennis Club
    Subjects
    tennis court, tennis, sport, father, brother, memory, nostalgia, lawn
    Materials & Techniques
    linen, oil, oil paint, painting (as object name), oil painting
  • Details
    Artist
    Norman Hyams (1966 - )
    Title
    Court
    Date
    2018
    Medium
    oil on linen
    Dimensions
    height: 210 cm; width: 240 cm; depth: 3.6 cm
    Acquisition
    Purchased from the artist via Hannah Barry Gallery, London UK, December 2019
    Provenance
    The artist via Hannah Barry Gallery, London UK; from whom purchased by UK Government Art Collection, 2 December 2019
    GAC number
    18832