TRISTRAM Hillier RA (1905–1983) was one of the most accomplished and distinctive 20th-century British artists.

Painting for many years from a base in Somerset, he created pictures in a uniquely intense and memorable style.

Now the first retrospective of Hillier’s work in more than 30 years is being held at the Museum of Somerset in Taunton from November 9 2019 until April 18 2020.

It is one of the most ambitious exhibitions the museum has ever staged.

Landscapes of the Mind: The Art of Tristram Hillier brings together over 50 pictures from private lenders and from national and regional collections.

Major works include Variation on the Form of an Anchor and La Route des Alpes from the collections of Tate Britain and Pylons and Quantoxhead from National Museums Scotland.

The loans have been made possible by support from Arts Council England and from the Weston Loan Programme with Art Fund.

The Western Loan Programme, created by the Garfield Weston Foundation and Art Fund, is the first ever UK-wide funding scheme to help smaller and local authority museums borrow art and artefacts from national collections.

Sam Astill Head of Museums for the South West Heritage Trust said: “We are most grateful to our funders and to those who have lent works for the exhibition.

“It is thanks to their generosity that we can bring this remarkable collection of nationally-important paintings to Somerset.

“Hillier was a fascinating man, by turns charismatic and troubled.

“The exhibition will explore his long and complex relationship with Somerset and will contrast it with his life in Spain and Portugal. They were places he loved and returned to again and again.

“Hillier’s work is full of intriguing symbolism for the viewer to unravel.

“Harnesses, anchors, pylons and abandoned signs of human activity appear repeatedly in his paintings, whose subjects span landscape, architecture, still-life and religious themes.”

To find out more information visit swheritage.org.uk/museum-of-somerset or call 01823 255088.