A sunny day in Suffolk with Hugo Grenville

Hugo and his family have the most idyllic farmhouse nestled in undulating fields with 360 degree views – perfect inspiration for Hugo’s romantic paintings. One particular favourite of mine is this one – “The View from the Studio”, a small oil capturing the elements Hugo is so famous for – the sense of reverie in his subjects, the sense also as with Matisse, that the domestic interiors filled with textiles and vibrant colour are about a vision of paradise.

This is the Grenville’s second house in Suffolk – the first was the Georgian ‘Red House’ not far from where they are today, close to Halesworth, which they sold to move to London, where they are keeping their old Chocolate Factory studio.

Hugo has said it was the Suffolk landscape which drew him here each time, and each time I see it, I think his house is perfectly placed for him to enjoy the landscape at its best - the changing seasons, the huge skies, and bring its beauty to collectors here and in the US. Yet with its line of Poplar trees lining the driveway, his farm also brings to mind the French countryside of Monet and Sisley. My parents live in the Poitou-Charente in France and certainly I often also see similarities in the landscape in Suffolk.

After a lovely rustic (and very French) lunch of salad, cheese and coffee, Hugo let me loose amongst the charmingly bohemian atmosphere of his studio to choose from his newly completed work. I chose eight pieces – both oils and pastel drawings, which capture the Romantic themes Hugo loves to paint – nudes laying within a space filled with textile and amongst still lifes of fruit and domestic objects, scenes from his garden and that view from his studio, as well as a few gorgeous light-infused depictions of Bandol, on the Mediterranean coast where Hugo painted last year.

Hugo was working on a beautiful, tonal painting of a reclining nude – the entire work glowing, as if suffused by an amber light. So to allow him to get back to work, Sophie, his wife took me and Avery out to walk their new puppy in the surrounding fields. A lovely day spent relishing the Suffolk landscape as one of our finest artists does daily.