How you can use this image
This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).
Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.
The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.
Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.
Notes
Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.
After he had been commissioned by Dean Walter Hussey to paint a Crucifixion for St Matthew's, Northampton, Sutherland began working on a series of paintings inspired by thorn bushes. These are similar to his earlier works where Sutherland exploits twisting tree roots and other organic forms to arrive at something that is far removed from a conventional image of Nature. Painted following his trip to Southern France, Sutherland has adopted a new, brighter palette to reflect the warmth of the Mediterranean climate. Sutherland wrote, "For the first time I started to notice thorn bushes, and the structure of thorns as they pierced the air. I made some drawings, and as I made them, a curious change developed. As the thorns rearranged themselves, they became, whilst still retaining their own pricking, space-encompassing life, something else - a kind of 'stand-in' for a Crucifixion and a crucified head… The thorns sprang from the idea of potential cruelty - to me they were the cruelty and I attempted to give the idea a double twist, as it were, by setting them in benign circumstances: blue skies, green grass, crucifixions under warmth.
Title
Thorn Head
Date
1947
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 40.9 x W 40.9 cm
Accession number
CHCPH 0156
Acquisition method
bequeathed by Walter Hussey to Chichester District Council, 1985
Work type
Painting