Imminent Death: Roger Hilton

24 Jan-28 Feb 2026

Roger Hilton Cat, 1974, Gouache on paper

Overview

Vardaxoglou will present a group of previously unseen gouaches by pioneering British artist Roger Hilton from the artist’s estate. Fifty years ago in 1975, Roger Hilton died of a stroke aged 64 at his home near St Ives. The artist had been confined to his bed in Cornwall due to severe illness since 1973, and was slowly losing the use of his arms and legs. He started to play with paints given to his son at Christmas 1972, and what resulted is a series of electric and explicit gouaches exploring art, sex, life, and death. Animals, birds, figures, and boats are expressed with apparent abandon but with great control. Hilton, who was a Prisoner of War for three years from 1942, was a painter previously versed in abstraction, yet this exhibition shows an exploration of raw figuration in his final years. The series of gouaches only ended with Hilton’s death in February 1975. The paintings Roger Hilton produced in this period show the artist’s determination to make art in the face of imminent death.

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Roger Hilton (1911–1975) studied at Slade School of Fine Art (1929-31) and Academie Ranson, Paris (1931). In 1940 Hilton fought in the Commandos during the War and from 1942–45 was held Prisoner of War in Dieppe. Hilton represented Britain at the Venice Biennale in 1964. Major solo exhibitions and retrospectives include: Kettle's Yard, Cambridge (2009); Tate St. Ives (2006); Hayward Gallery, London (1993); Serpentine Gallery, London (1974). Hilton's work can be found in the public collections of The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Tate, London; Arts Council Collection; Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool; Government Art Collection; National Portrait Gallery, London.