Walter Hoyle was greatly influenced by his friend Edward Bawden and , together with Sheila Robinson , they are my favourite Bardfield printmakers. Indeed both worked very closely with Bawden on a number of projects both in the UK and abroad. Walter Hoyle worked together with Bawden and Robinson on the mural for the RCA's Lion and Unicorn Pavilion at the 1951 Festival of Britain on the South Bank in London and upon its completion he holidayed with Bawden in Sicily where they both painted daily.
It was shortly after their return from this trip that Walter Hoyle moved to Great Bardfield. In the early 1960s he really concentrated on printmaking. He was teaching at Cambridge School of Art , set up a print studio and launched 'Cambridge Print Edition' to produce limited editions of artists' prints. It was at this point that he produced a series of prints depicting Cambridge Colleges that was published by Editions Alecto. The Cambridge Colleges were 10 Linocuts made in 1965-6 and were sold in a portfolio box set. These were shown in an exhibition 'Zodiac Paintings and Cambridge Prints ' at Savage Gallery , London 1966.
A short time later Hoyle made a series of prints based on his paintings on the zodiac and were produced by Editions Alectro as the ' Planet Series' . These seem to have disappeared over the decades and rarely now come to the market for some reason. They were complicated works and he experimented with paper, techniques and inks producing for cutting edge material.
' Bright Star ' 1969
There is no doubt that the years spent in Great Bardfield were an important part of Walter Hoyles life . Moving to Essex and Cambridgeshire allowed him to raise a family and to develop as an artist while mixing with other like minded individuals. Unlike some of the other artists in Bardfield his work developed greatly over the years, creating new images that challenged his previous work. As a result I think his work is more varied than others but perhaps less distinctive and recognisable than other Bardfield artists. Having said this it also makes his work more interesting and individual, as he adapted his practise in response to where ever he was at the time . We here at Blondes Fine Art currently have two lovely Etchings available for purchase.
He married Denise Hoyle who was of French birth and spent the later part of his life living between Hastings and Dieppe until he died in 2000.