Harold Hitchcock (English, b. 1914), 'Windsor Castle", watercolor, monogrammed and dated "1966" lower left, 40in. x 50in. Illustrated in Ian Williamson, Harold Hitchcock -A Romantic Symbol in Surrealism, Ny Walker & Co., 1982, page 111 E8000-12000 Note: Harold Hitchcock was born in 1914 at Kentish Town, London, and was raised at Thundersley, Essex. Proclaimed a child prodigy, Hitchcock hailed from an artistically grounded family, boasting of two Royal Academy exhibitors, and a relation to the animal painter, George Stubbs. Considering the import of Jungian theory on the analysis of Hitchcock's work in later years, one might assert that the artist's "imaginary natural landscapes" reveal an autodidactic talent borne of the 'collective unconscious' of this artistic ancestry. Indeed, while in treatment for a neurological disorder, Hitchcock was encouraged to paint as therapy, thereby divulging the subconscious nature of His inspiration. Hitchcock has here depicted a vision of 'Windsor Castle" a milieu drenched within a mystical light which also illuminates His kinship with Claude Lorrain. The classically rendered buildings are precisely drawn and seem architecturally sound, yet the artist has described a setting devoid of figures and overgrown with foliage, suggesting a scene of classical ruins. Painted in 1966, a period wherein Hitchcock had been freed of His neurological disorder and had become increasingly involved in Subud, a spiritual brotherhood based upon the teachings of Pak Subuh and a belief in the "Great Life Force", the painting emits a particularly serene quality. The artist has recreated a real place based upon the personal memory of His beloved gardens at Thundersley, while also offering a universal archetype eloquently presented in the medium of watercolor. Ref.: Ian Williamson, Harold Hitchcock: A Romantic Symbol in Surrealism, Ny, Walker & Co., 1982