Hanging Gardens of Hammersmith No.2 1949

Editor: Today we’re looking at Victor Pasmore’s "Hanging Gardens of Hammersmith No.2," painted in 1949 using mixed media including watercolor. It’s surprisingly airy; the forms are suggested more than described, creating this lovely, ethereal feeling. What catches your eye in this piece? Curator: The linear elements predominantly. Note how the structural framework establishes a horizon and spatial recession, while the superimposed web of curvilinear lines actively defies a strictly representational reading. It is, one could argue, a formal dance between structure and gesture. What is your assessment of the chromatic scale employed here? Editor: It seems rather restrained, dominated by blues and whites, punctuated by earthier tones in the foliage. Is it meant to be muted or subdued? Curator: Restraint is certainly a valid observation. The artist eschews bold hues for a carefully modulated palette. One might consider this a calculated strategy. Ask yourself, how does the limited colour range influence the overall composition, or our experience with the image? Editor: I see... By restricting the colours, it throws emphasis onto the lines and forms themselves, almost turning the landscape into an abstract study. I wouldn’t have noticed that so clearly otherwise. Curator: Precisely. Through these choices of line and colour Pasmore offers us an image which compels us to consider it as a unified configuration of lines, planes, and volumes. Editor: I really appreciate learning how those formal qualities contribute so significantly to its impact and our perception of it. Curator: Indeed, this closer examination shows how even seemingly simple landscapes contain layered complexity when viewed through a formal lens.