Title of Artwork: “Hanging Gardens of Hammersmith No.2”
Artwork by Victor Pasmore
Year Created 1949
Summary of Hanging Gardens of Hammersmith No.2
In the Gardens of Hammersmith No. 2, Pasmore depicts a view of the Thames from his London home, 16 Hammersmith Terrace, from 1942 to 1947.
The painting is divided into sections by diagonal lines painted in red and drawn in charcoal or pencil.
All About Hanging Gardens of Hammersmith No.2
There are points where some of these lines cross at about a quarter of the way up the right edge, and at about a half of the way up the left edge, the lines demarcate the different sections of the garden and also help with the overall composition. A quarter of the way up the left side to the middle of the right side marks the river border of the gardens.
This line runs the entire length of the river. Also, the trees are arranged in a symmetrical fashion. In the far left corner, a tree’s trunk represents a line cutting through the centre of the top edge. Continuing along the width of the canvas, the third tree marks the exact midpoint.
On a painted white ground, this exact composition is drawn with pencil or charcoal. With charcoal or conté crayon, the bushes were rubbed into the ground until they acquired their smudged appearance, which is visible through the coloured dots. The trees have a reddish-brown colour scheme. It’s a stark contrast to the pointillist and linear forms that fill the rest of the painting.
While serving in World War II, Pasmore read a lot of the Post-Impressionists’ writings, and in the years that followed, he applied some of their ideas to his own work. Pointillism by Seurat is clearly visible in this painting.
Information Citations
En.wikipedia.org, https://en.wikipedia.org/.
