Arthur Derek Hill, , (6 December 1916 – 30 July 2000) was an English portrait and

landscape painter Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a coherent composi ...

, long resident in Ireland.

Life and work

Glebe House - Home of artist Derek Hill - geograph

Early life

Hill was born at

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, the son of a wealthy sugar trader.

Career

He first worked as a theatre designer in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

in the 1930s, and later as an historian. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

he registered as a conscientious objector and worked on a farm. His long association with Ireland began when he visited

Glenveagh Castle Glenveagh Castle ( ga, Caisleán Ghleann Bheatha ) is a large castellated mansion located in Glenveagh National Park, County Donegal, Ireland and was built in about 1870. History Captain John George Adair built Glenveagh Castle between ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconn ...

to paint the portrait of the Irish-American art collector,

Henry McIlhenny Henry Plumer McIlhenny (October 7, 1910 – May 11, 1986) was an American connoisseur of art and antiques, world traveler, socialite, philanthropist, curator and chairman of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Early life and art collections During hi ...

, whose grandfather had emigrated to the United States from the nearby village of Milford, and who subsequently made a fortune from his patent gas meter. Hill began to enjoy increased success as a

portrait painter Portrait Painting is a genre in painting, where the intent is to represent a specific human subject. The term 'portrait painting' can also describe the actual painted portrait. Portraitists may create their work by commission, for public and pr ...

from the 1960s; his subjects including many notable composers, musicians, politicians and statesmen, such as broadcaster Gay Byrne, Jerusalem mayor

Teddy Kollek Theodor "Teddy" Kollek ( he, טדי קולק; 27 May 1911 – 2 January 2007) was an Israeli politician who served as the mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993, and founder of the Jerusalem Foundation. Kollek was re-elected five times, in 1969, 19 ...

and the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

. He was also an enthusiastic

art collector A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individual ...

and traveller, with a wide range of friends such as

Bryan Guinness Bryan Walter Guinness, 2nd Baron Moyne, (27 October 1905 – 6 July 1992) was an heir to part of the Guinness family brewing fortune, and a lawyer, poet and novelist. He was briefly married to Diana Mitford. Early life He was born to Wa ...

and Isaiah Berlin.

Greta Garbo Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragic ch ...

visited Hill in the 1970s, a visit which formed inspiration for

Frank McGuinness Professor Frank McGuinness (born 1953) is an Irish writer. As well as his own plays, which include '' The Factory Girls'', ''Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme'', '' Someone Who'll Watch Over Me'' and ''Dolly West's Kitchen'' ...

' 2010 play ''Greta Garbo Came to Donegal''. In 1981, he donated to the state his home, St. Columb's Rectory, near the village of

Churchill, County Donegal Church Hill, historically known as Minalaban (), is a small village and townland in County Donegal, Ireland. The village is from Letterkenny. The village's name is derived from its location on a small hilltop. Church Hill has a post office, o ...

, which he had owned since 1954, along with a considerable collection including work by

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

, Edgar Degas, Georges Braque,

Graham Sutherland Graham Vivian Sutherland (24 August 1903 – 17 February 1980) was a prolific English artist. Notable for his paintings of abstract landscapes and for his portraits of public figures, Sutherland also worked in other media, including printmaking ...

, Anna Ticho and

Jack Butler Yeats Jack Butler Yeats RHA (29 August 1871 – 28 March 1957) was an Irish artist and Olympic medalist. W. B. Yeats was his brother. Butler's early style was that of an illustrator; he only began to work regularly in oils in 1906. His early pic ...

. An exhibition of his work and personal art collection can be seen at the house and associated Glebe Gallery at Churchill, near

Letterkenny Letterkenny ( ga, Leitir Ceanainn , meaning 'hillside of the O'Cannons'), nicknamed 'the Cathedral Town', is the largest and most populous town in County Donegal, a county in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. Letterkenny lies on the R ...

. Another collection of his work is held at

Mottisfont Abbey Mottisfont Abbey is a historical priory and country estate in Hampshire, England. Sheltered in the valley of the River Test, the property is now operated by the National Trust. 393,250 people visited the site in 2019. The site includes the histo ...

. Many of his landscapes portray scenes from

Tory Island Tory Island, or simply Tory (officially known by its Irish name ''Toraigh''),Toraigh/Tory Island

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1997. A retrospective exhibition was arranged for and by him at the

Royal Hibernian Academy The Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) is an artist-based and artist-oriented institution in Ireland, founded in Dublin in 1823. Like many other Irish institutions, such as the RIA, the academy retained the word "Royal" after most of Ireland became in ...

in 1998. In 1999, he was made an honorary Irish citizen by Irish President Mary McAleese. He died at a London hospital on 30 July 2000, aged 83, and is buried in Hampshire in the South of England with his parents. Memorial services were held for him in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

at St Patrick's Cathedral, as well as

St James's Church, Piccadilly St James's Church, Piccadilly, also known as St James's Church, Westminster, and St James-in-the-Fields, is an Anglican church on Piccadilly in the centre of London, United Kingdom. The church was designed and built by Sir Christopher Wren. Th ...

, London, and his local church in Trentagh, County Donegal.

Biographies

In 1987

Grey Gowrie Alexander Patrick Greysteil Hore-Ruthven, 2nd Earl of Gowrie, (26 November 1939 – 24 September 2021), usually known as Grey Gowrie or Lord Gowrie, was an Irish-born British hereditary peer, politician, and businessman. Lord Gowrie was als ...

's illustrated essay on Hill was published by Quartet. Gowrie considered his landscapes to be as good as those of

Jack Yeats Jack Butler Yeats RHA (29 August 1871 – 28 March 1957) was an Irish artist and Olympic medalist. W. B. Yeats was his brother. Butler's early style was that of an illustrator; he only began to work regularly in oils in 1906. His early pict ...

. A fuller biography of Hill by Bruce Arnold was published in 2010. * Bruce Arnold: ''Derek Hill'', London: Quartet, 2010,

Rome and the Derek Hill Foundation Scholarship

Derek Hill had a great love of Rome and was the Director of Fine Arts at the British School at Rome (BSR) for about five years during the 1950s. During his lively two tenures, he encouraged resident art scholars, which included Anthony Fry and

John Bratby John Randall Bratby RA (19 July 1928 – 20 July 1992) was an English painter who founded the kitchen sink realism style of art that was influential in the late 1950s. He made portraits of his family and celebrities. His works were seen i ...

, to travel throughout Italy, whilst, in the academy itself, Hill fostered a jovial, creative atmosphere. In 1989, shortly before Hill's death, he established a charitable trust which provides annual bursaries for the Derek Hill Foundation Scholarship residencies at the BSR. The scholarship is granted through an open, competitive selection of British and Irish artists in the fields of drawing and painting, providing a stipend and three months full-board in one of the Edwin Austin Abbey studios.Macmillan, P., 2007. The Grants Register: The Complete Guide to Postgraduate Funding Worldwide, Palgrave Macmillan. Winners of the award have included Emma Stibbon RA and David O'Kane.

Footnotes

Villa I Tatti Villa I Tatti, The Harvard Center for Italian Renaissance Studies is a center for advanced research in the humanities located in Florence, Italy, and belongs to Harvard University. It houses a collection of Italian primitives, and of Chinese and ...