Key words
acrylic; abstract
Questions to ask
Do you think the artist painted this outdoors, or from memory or a photograph? Is it possible to tell? Does it matter?
Aside from the title, does the artist give the viewer any clues that this image is a landscape?
The colours and forms used in this landscape ensure that it is a high impact image. Do you think that the artist has used unrealistic colours purely to grab the viewer’s attention, or could this be for another reason?
How this might inspire your work
Use a photograph of a landscape and look at its basic forms. Pay attention to both positive and negative space. Cut out these shapes on white card.
Arrange these shapes on a piece of paper, overlapping them if you wish, but paying close attention to the overall composition of the image.
On a separate piece of paper, sketch out the arrangement.
Instead of using realistic colours for your landscape, substitute areas with bright reds, oranges and yellow.
West Country 1968, acrylic on board by Martin Froy (1926- ).
Froy's semi-abstract work shows a series of forms suggesting a wooded hillside and valley. The planes of bold colour used without shading give a graphic effect to the surface, the intersecting colours and shapes defining the forms.
Froy studied painting and sculpture at the Slade School of Fine Art, and would go on to win many prizes for his painting and drawing. During the period in which West Country was made, Froy was the Head of Painting at the Chelsea School of Art, the last of a series of prestigious teaching posts.
Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery collection, purchased by Roger de Grey 1969
Image © Martin Froy, courtesy Rich Gallery, London
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