Hugh Dunford Wood
Hugh Dunford Wood is a painter of portraits and landscapes of the world that surrounds him.
Trained at the Ruskin School of Drawing & Fine Art at Oxford in the early 1970s, he is known for his art residencies with the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford upon Avon, in the late 1980s and more recently with The Globe Theatre in London. It was there he developed his quick eye in catching the passing emotions of the world’s greatest dramas.
His regard for the countryside has developed meanwhile over a lifetime’s slow living on the land, with the patience of a gardener. ‘Painting the landscape is a way of touching your surroundings without leaving a mark’ says Hugh.
It is a responsible and urgent pursuit, very pertinent for these times of eco awareness. His dedication is tangible in the lively paintings of woodlands that he is currently pursuing. They are less to do with a view, and more concerned with the experience of physically being in the woods and looking through trees at the changing dappled light.
‘The positive power of these country paintings offsets the negative influence of technology and the visual static of machines that we all live amongst.’ He recommends them as a tonic for anyone needing a breath of fresh air in their lives. “Living with one of these paintings will reintroduce you to an intimacy with grass and woods and natural light.”
The portraits are also an experience of being with - another person. It is an intimate meeting, the cooperation of the sitter is all important. To encourage this relationship, this painter uses a mirror to help the sitter see what is emerging on the canvas, and therefore have more of a share in the process of painting. It is a deep involvement from which emerges an image more lively and personal than any photograph, one that will repay the time invested with interest.
Hugh Dunford Wood’s portraits include Nobel Prize winner Seamus Heaney, Poet Laureate Andrew Motion, actor manager Mark Rylance and film director Sir David Lean among others. His work is represented in several public collections including the Bodlian Library and the Victoria and Albert Museum, and he has exhibited at the Royal Academy and other galleries in London and abroad.
Hugh Dunford Wood is a painter of portraits and landscapes of the world that surrounds him. Trained at the Ruskin School of Drawing & Fine Art at Oxford in the early 1970s, he is known for his art residencies with the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford upon Avon, in the late 1980s and more recently with The Globe Theatre in London. It was there he developed his quick eye in catching the passing emotions of the world’s greatest dramas.
