JOHN CRAXTON - Smith Greenfield

John Craxton: A Modern Odyssey is now open at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester, Sussex. This major exhibition celebrates the life and work of John Craxton R.A. (1922–2009), presenting works created throughout his career.

Beginning in 1940s Britain, when Craxton created works influenced by British Romantic art and the landscape of England and Wales, his paintings from this time capture the ‘zeitgeist’ of wartime Britain, seen in the dark and lamenting tones of pictures including Hare on a Table (1944–46). Also from this period are a series of self-portraits, including Poet in Landscape (1941) and Dreamer in Landscape (1942), showing the artist’s preoccupation with loneliness and menacing landscapes.

The end of the Second World War brought with it a notable change in Craxton’s work, which was informed by his ability to travel. His pictures became more colourful, and it this celebration of colour that dominates the rest of his career. There was a visit to the Isles of Scilly with Lucian Freud, a trip to Paris where he met Pablo Picasso and, in 1946, he arrived in Greece where, as a gay man, he felt sexual liberation and chose to settle. Head among Leaves (1948) and Greek Fisherman (Seated Boy from Hydra) (1960) embody Craxton’s vivacious Greek reawakening, inspired by the light, heat, landscapes and the people he met.

In 1960 Craxton made his home in Chania, Crete, but he continued to travel widely in Greece and across the Mediterranean. His fascination with Greek culture and mythology can be seen in the work Two Greek Dancers (1951), made for the dancer and choreographer Frederick Ashton while he was working on Daphnis and Chloë at the Royal Opera House (for which Craxton also designed the set). But Craxton favoured painting ordinary people in everyday scenes, seen in works such as Greek Head (1950- 51) and Fisherman with a Basket (1951). In 1967, Craxton was exiled back to Britain due to a right-wing military dictatorship in Greece. Entrapped once again, Craxton travelled to Edinburgh where he worked until returning to Greece in 1976.

The final part of the exhibition presents some of Craxton’s most compelling works made in Greece, from the 1970s until his death in 2009, including original drawings for book covers made for Patrick Leigh Fermor and works such as Cretan Cats II (2003), a painting of Craxton’s pets in his kitchen.

Coinciding with the exhibition is a display of works by Craxton’s contemporaries, including Lucian Freud, Robert MacBryde, Robert Colquhoun, John Minton, Paul Nash, John Piper, Graham Sutherland and Keith Vaughan

John Craxton: A Modern Odyssey is now open at Pallant House Gallery (until 21 April 2024). For further information: pallant.org.uk

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