ABSTRACT
In lo o k in g a t th e life -sp a n a n d ca ree r of R oger H ilto n , tw o th in g s im m ed ia te ly becom e ap p aren t. Born in 1911, he w as tw o a n d th ree years y o u n g er th a n Francis Bacon a n d V ictor P asm ore respectively, n in e years o lde r th a n A lan D avie a n d P atrick H eron; he also d ied y o u n g er th a n m a n y of h is generation , a t th e age of sixty-four. U nlike the y o u n g er artists m en tio n ed , he d id h av e a tru n ca ted decade of w o rk in the 1930s, b u t w ith o u t estab lish ing a career. In d eed H ilto n 's p a in tin g career took off la ter th a n those of the fo rm er artists, an d w as th en cu t sh o rt b y h is earlier dea th . H is pub lic career bare ly lasted m ore th a n tw o decades, yet h is post-college p a in tin g p ractice (though in te rru p te d b y w artim e) sp a n n ed fo rty -four years a n d resu lted in over seven h u n d re d cu rren tly d o cu m en ted oils an d w orks on p a p e r ru n n in g in to th o u sa n d s .1
