Untitled
Ian Hart spent much of his professional life painting and teaching in Hull. His paintings of the 1970s examine the formal properties of abstract painting. A memorial exhibition of Hart's work was held at the Ferens in 1979, at which time his friend and colleague David Sweet (b.1945), whose work is also represented at the Ferens, wrote, 'It may be hard for the layman to appreciate the problems an abstract artist has in deciding about colour, composition and even what sort of things his pictures ought to contain, without any assistance from the world of everyday appearances. It places great strain on the imagination and creative resources.' It was these very problems that Hart sought to explore. In Untitled an illusion of depth, given by the shapes hovering in the centre of the canvas, is set against a latticed background which serves to emphasise the flatness of the picture/canvas surface - a common feature of abstract art.
