William Crozier H.R.H.A. (Irish, 1930-2011) Meon Valley signed 'CROZIER' (lower left); further signed and titled 'William CROZIER/Meon Valley' (on canvas verso) oil on canvas 55.5 x 65.5cm (21 7/8 x 25 13/16in). Painted in 1998 Footnotes: Provenance The Artist, from whom commissioned by the present owner, 1998 Corporate Collection, U.K. The group of paintings presented here make up five out of a group of six oils on canvas commissioned from William Crozier in 1998 for a corporate collection, selected for the colour and uplifting mood of his work. The commission marks a departure from the more representational approach of Crozier's Irish subjects of 1984-95 to a more abstracted style in which landscape forms are simplified into monumental blocks of colour. Shortly before these paintings were begun, Crozier had moved his UK house and studio to Wickham in the Meon Valley of Hampshire, where he used the change of scene as an impetus to find new formal solutions to representing the landscape. He turned to plant forms and still life subjects, consciously blurring any distinction between still life and landscape genres. The Plant Room (lot 39) was inspired by the small room he devoted to growing houseplants in his new home, while in The Entrance (lot 35) he interpreted the long path through his town garden as a bold red marker through the composition. Spring (lot 36) and the present lot were inspired by the wider landscape in the vicinity. In New Field (lot 38), Crozier revisits a scene used in earlier paintings of Kilcoe, West Cork. In all these images Crozier's intention is to monumentalise a local, familiar landscape. As he wrote in 2000, 'I have sensed some universality, found some quality in the land, and in myself, which suggests the importance of the ordinary, the eternal in the transitory'. We are grateful to Katharine Crouan and the William Crozier Estate for their help in compiling this catalogue entry. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: † AR † VAT at the prevailing rate on Hammer Price and Buyer's Premium. AR Goods subject to Artists Resale Right Additional Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing