Siamese Cat in a Tree, 1937
Gladys Hynes 1888-1958
‘Siamese Cat in a Tree’ (1937) is a striking watercolour and crayon work on paper by Gladys Hynes that exemplifies the distinctive modernist visual language she developed during the interwar period. Although its subject—a Siamese cat perched in a tree—appears deceptively simple, the composition reveals Hynes's sophisticated engagement with form, movement, and design. Scholars have noted the work's enduring “Vorticist-inflected” qualities, evident in its angular forms, rhythmic lines, and dynamic sense of energy. Rather than treating the cat as a naturalistic study, Hynes transforms it into a highly stylised composition animated by linear energy and pattern.
The work reflects the evolution of Hynes's artistic practice following her move to London in 1919. Living in Hampstead and participating in modernist literary and artistic circles associated with figures such as John Rodker and Ezra Pound, she increasingly embraced contemporary urban and modernist aesthetics. ‘Siamese Cat in a Tree’ embodies this development, combining an accessible subject with a sophisticated formal structure rooted in early twentieth-century avant-garde design.
Within Hynes's oeuvre, the work is particularly interesting for demonstrating her ability to apply modernist experimentation to subjects often considered decorative or domestic. Like many of her works, it balances wit, observation, and strong design, suggesting that even an everyday animal motif could serve as a vehicle for formal innovation. It also reflects the remarkable breadth of Hynes's practice, which encompassed painting, illustration, theatre design, sculpture, and book illustration.
Gladys Hynes 1888-1958
Gladys Hynes was born in Indore, India, emigrating to London with her family in 1891. She later studied at the London School of Art in Earl’s Court where she developed a close friendship with Nina Hamnett. After her family moved to Penzance in 1906, she attended the Stanhope Forbes School of Painting, Newlyn. She returned to London in 1919, where she settled in Hampstead, taking lodgings with the modernist poet and publisher John Rodker. Hynes was a supporter of the Irish Republican cause (her correspondence with Desmond Fitzgerald is the subject of an article by Ed Vulliamy in The Guardian 26.03.2016). A member of the Catholic Women’s Suffrage Society, she was also an impassioned campaigner for women’s rights, often challenging the social construction of gender and sexuality in her work. Many of the paintings she produced during WWII were influenced by Surrealism and shaped by her mainly pacifist convictions. During her career, Hynes contributed to Roger Fry’s (1866-1934) Omega Workshops, illustrated books – including the folio edition of Ezra Pound’s A Draft of the Cantos nos. XVII to XXVII (1928) – undertook sculpture commissions and theatre designs. She exhibited with the Royal Academy, the London Group, the International Society of Sculptors, the Paris Salon and at the 1924 Venice Biennale.
