29 November – 22 December2017

John Martin Gallery

Francis HamelA CE RTA I N TR E E

41.ÁA Certain Tree, Diana’s Mirroroil on linen, 37 x 27 ins, 94 x 68.5 cms

A Certain Treeby Francis Hamel

A few years ago I spent some time reading The Golden Bough by James Frazer. He starts volume one with an extraordinary story set on the shores of a flooded volcano, Lake Nemi, in the Alban Hills just south of Rome. The story describes the macabre succession to the priesthood at the Temple to the Goddess Diana. His fascination with this story forms the starting point for a vast comparative study of religion, ritual and magic. Frazer describes the universal progression from belief in magic, to religion and then to science. In the same way that Jung found a similarity of dreams amongst all people, Frazer found that religion and magic also form a common pattern. He writes a good deal about trees too. The old world was covered in trees and of course, if we left it alone for long enough, the planet would revert to forest so it’s no surprise that the old gods were tree gods and that all over the world ritual and magic grew in partnership with the trees.

As a child I spent a good deal of my life up trees, we had some good trees in the vicarage garden and, away from parental supervision, I was mostly up a tree somewhere. I started to draw trees at the same time and, although now I paint many different subjects, I am always painting trees. They’re never far away.

Since starting this collection of paintings I‘m surprised, perhaps reassured, by how often trees seem to crop up. Popular culture (The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones) features trees cast in godlike roles, trees are adopted as symbols of permanence by countries and political parties, many of the old rituals live on with the May pole, and the Christmas tree. Trees still seem to resonate quite deeply.

As a landscape painter I’m always looking for verticals. There’s never any shortage of horizontals but with warp you need weft and without verticals the landscape doesn’t hold together. Trees are the verticals, they are the leaven in the landscape.

I started work on this collection of paintings with a trip to Sri Lanka, South Africa and Zambia. I like travelling, it’s hard to work outside in February and a trip always shakes things up nicely. With my son Luke as travelling companion, critic and sous chef I painted Baobabs, Banyan Trees, Tamarinds and Figs, we read about, talked about and examined all sorts of beautiful specimens, always working outside, directly from the subject in all kinds of weather. Luke calls the paintings insect graveyards because so many bugs died in the wet paint! In the wilder places we found the landscape filled with the relics of dead as well as living trees, very different from the tidy domesticated landscape of the home counties.

I finished the project on the shore of Lake Nemi and found myself trying to remember what type of tree Frazer had referred to in his account of the story.

From the second floor terrace of a hotel in the village of Nemi I found myself painting a view of the lake framed by a single tree. I had a vague feeling Frazer might have referred to an oak. He writes as follows….

“In the sacred grove there grew a certain tree round which at any time of the day, and probably far into the night, a grim figure might be seen to prowl. In his hand he carried a drawn sword, and he kept peering wearily about him as if at every instant he expected to be set upon by an enemy. He was a priest and a murderer; and the man for whom he looked was sooner or later to murder him and hold the priesthood in his stead. Such was the rule of the sanctuary. A candidate for the priesthood could only succeed to the office by slaying the priest, and having slaid him, he retained the office till he was himself slain by a stronger or a craftier. The post which he held by this precarious tenure carried with it the title of king….”. Rex Nemorensis. The reason no species is given by Frazer is because the tree is the goddess Diana, to give the tree a name would be a distraction, It is ‘a certain tree’. Somehow trees do seem to be more than just trees.

Rousham, October 2017

(ABOVE) Painting a Baobab Tree, ZambiaPhoto by Luke Hamel-Cooke

3.�Cedar with Longhorn Cattle, Rousham, Oxford�oil on linen, 72 x 48 ins, 183 x 122 cm

2. Baobab with Elephants, South Luangwa, Zambia�oil on linen, 72 x 48 ins, 183 x 122 cms

THE TREES

3 – 14 FEBRUARY

Kandy, Sri Lanka (no. 17)Udawalawe Sri Lanka (nos. 14, 13, 28)

16 – 28 FEBRUARY

Kruger Park, South Africa Satara Camp (nos. 16 & 26) Letaba Camp (no. 19) Shingwedzi (no. 25) Pafuri (nos. 1, 18, 23, 24 & 40)

1 – 4 MARCH

Tzaneen, Limpopo region (20)

5 – 13 MARCH

Mfuwe, South Luangwa National Park, Zambia (nos 2, 9, 12, 21, 27).

30 JULY – 15 SEPTEMBER

Le Marche, Italy( nos. 35, 33, 39)Lake Nemi (nos. 32, 41, 42)Ninfa (nos. 36 34, 31.)

The other trees were painted in Rousham, Oxfordshire or nearby during 2017. A film about the making of the exhibition can be seenat www.jmlondon.com/films

1.�The Flooded Fever Tree Forest, Northern Kruger, South Africa�oil on linen, 32 x 52 ins, 82 x 132 cms

4.�Blue Oakoil on linen, 37 x 27 ins, 94 x 68.5 cms

5.�Backlit Autumn Oak, Roushamoil on linen, 27 x 37 ins, 68.5 x 94 cms

7.�Cypress Trees in the Gardens at Ninfa, Italy�oil on linen, 26 x 12 inches, 66 x 30.5 cms

36.�Ninfa, The Trees and the Riveroil on linen, 15 x 16 ins, 38 x 41 cms

9.�Tamarind with Termite Mound, Zebra Loop, South Luangwa�oil on linen, 18 x 22 ins, 45.5 x 56 cms

14.�Udawalawe, Sri Lanka, After the Flood�oil on linen, 18 x 22 ins, 45.5 x 56 cms

40.�Fever Tree Pooloil on linen, 27 x 37 ins, 68 x 94 cms

10.�Spring Oak First Flush, Roushamoil on linen, 22 x 18 ins, 56 x 45.5 cms

12.�Tall Baobab, South Luangwa, Zambia�oil on linen, 22 x 18 ins, 56 x 46 cms

8.�Giant Beech Tree at Rousham, Oxon�oil on linen, 22 x 18 ins, 56 x 46 cms

34.�Via Ninfana, Outside the Garden Gates�oil on gesso, 14 x 7 ins, 35.5 x 17.5 cms

37.�Monkey Puzzle Tree, Araucariaoil on linen, 19½ x 8¼ ins, 49.5 x 21 cms

33.�Cypress Tree in Le Marcheoil on linen, 24 x 30 ins, 61 x 76 cms

42.�Lake Nemi, A Certain Treeoil on linen, 18 x 22 ins, 46 x 56 cms,

6.�Oak Clump in Rousham Parkoil on linen, 22 x 18 ins, 56 x 46 cms

11.�Cedar, Middleton Parkoil on linen, 22 x 18 ins, 56 x 46 cms

24.�Baobab at Pafuri, Northern Kruger, South Africa�oil on linen, 12 x 11 ins, 30.5 x 28 cms

15.�Oak on the Riveroil on linen, 15 x 16 ins, 39 x 40 cms

16.�The Gardener, Acacia Xanthaflora, Satara Camp, Kruger Park, South Africa�oil on linen, 16 x 16 ins, 41 x 41 cms

17.�Javan Fig in the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kandy, Sri Lanka�

oil on linen, 16 x 16 ins, 41 x 41 cms

18. Baobab on the Limpopo, early wet day Kruger oil on linen, 16 x 16 ins, 41 x 41 cms

23.�Rainy Season North Kruger near Pafuri�oil on linen, 11 x 12 ins, 28 x 30.5 cms

20.�Breonardia, Matumi, Tzaneenoil on board, 16 x 20 ins, 41 x 51 cms

21.�Baobab in Nyamununga Village, Mfuwe, Zambia�oil on board, 16 x 20 ins, 41 x 51 cms

22.�Longhorn Cattle in the Shade, Rousham�oil on linen, 14 x 16 ins, 36 x 41 cms

19.�Sunlit Trees outside Letaba, Kruger, South Africa�oil on linen, 16 x 16 ins, 41 x 41 cms

26.�The Road North from Satara camp, wet day�oil on linen, 8 x 8½ ins, 20.5 x 21.5 cms

25.�Kruger between Shingwedzi and Pafuri�oil on board, 11 x 12 ins, 28 x 30.5 cms

28.�The Lake at Banyan Camp, Udawalawe, Sri Lanka�oil on linen, 22 x 18 ins, 46 x 56 cms

13. White Tree, Udawalawe, Sri Lankaoil on linen, 18 x 22 ins, 46 x 56 cms

32. Lago Nemi at Dusk, Temple of Dianaoil on linen, 8 x 8½ ins, 20.5 x 21.5 cms

39. Tree in the Sibilini Hillsoil on gesso 10 x 12¼ ins, 25.5 x 31 cms

30. The Parkoil on linen, 16 x 12 ins, 40.5 x 30.5 cms

35. Theatre in the Landscape, Italy, August oil on linen, 8½ x 8 ins, 21.5 x 20.5 cms

31. Wooded Clump with House, Via Ninfana, Lazio oil on linen, 6 x 8 ins, 30.5 x 40.5 cms

29. Espalier, Roushamoil on linen, 6 x 8 ins, 15 x 20.5 cms

27. Zambia, South Luangwa, Chichele Road near Twin Baobab oil on linen, 8 x 8½ ins, 20.5 x 21.5 cms

38. Fir Cone(from Corsican Pine)oil on linen, 18 x 14 ins, 46 x 36 cms

Francis Hamel, A Certain TreeWednesday 29th November to Friday 22nd December, 2017

John Martin Gallery 38 Albemarle Street, London, W1S 4JGMonday to Friday 10–6pm, Saturday 10–1pmTelephone 020 7499 1314All enquiries Tara Whelan, tara@jmlondon.com

(ABOVE) 44. Pine at Petrognanocharcoal on paper, 30 x 22 ins,76 x 57 cms £1,950