Oliver Akers Douglas, ‘The Avon at Salisbury’
Oliver Akers Douglas, described by the critic Matthew Dennison as ‘the foremost landscape painter of his generation’, is best known for his dramatic interpretations of the English landscape. He works from life, using a Land Rover with a large easel welded to the side. His pictures vividly convey his experience of being on the spot, and the changing weather and light, and their surfaces are themselves textured landscapes of pure pigment. Beyond the process of manipulating paint, he is also concerned with the formal aspects of picture construction, conveying a three-dimensional experience in two-dimensional terms.