All texts copyright Richard Shillitoe
an eclipse
1944
Oil on panel.
26 x 15in. (66.7 x 38.4cm.)
Provenance
NT.
Exhibited
London, Royal Academy, 1945, no. 77.
London, Hampstead Artists’ Council, 1946, no. 101.
London, Mayor Gallery, 1947, (paintings), no. 4.
Cambridge, Heffer Gallery, 1953, no. 5.
Penzance, Newlyn Gallery, 1961, no. 16.
The heavens at a moment of transition. The transparent glaze suggests the lifting of the darkness and
the return of illumination. For the alchemists, an eclipse is the visual fusion of the sun and moon, the
alchemical king and queen.
The painting makes extensive use of decalcomania. The counterpart and a small watercolour study
are with the NT.