Verge, 1976 (acrylic on canvas)

Hoyland made many visits to New York in the 1960s and 1970s and was deeply immersed in the work of the Abstract Expressionists. Sharing their commitment to pure abstraction and to expressing the material qualities of paint, his work from this period often explored the creative possibilities of large planes of colour. In Verge, Hoyland applies the paint in successive layers using a variety of tools, including a brush, a palette knife and a wide scraper with which he created the large slab of blended colours in the centre. This dominant monolithic block creates a sense of order and even monumentality.