Hope depicts a lone British brown hare pausing at the edge of a field as it looks towards the distant landscape beyond. The painting was created in response to the continuing decline of the British brown hare population and the threat posed by the illegal pursuit of hares through hare coursing.

​

Lees adopts a low viewpoint, placing the viewer almost at ground level alongside the animal. This perspective creates an intimate sense of witnessing, as though the viewer has happened upon the hare in a moment of quiet reflection. Its gaze is directed towards the distant fields and hedgerows, yet the surrounding landscape appears to close in around it, creating a subtle sense of confinement and suggesting that there may be no clear escape from the threat beyond.

​

In contrast to the expressive, heavily textured approach used in Lees’s landscape paintings, Hope is rendered in a more objective and realistic manner, with a stillness reminiscent of a photographic image. The restrained handling of paint creates a sense of tranquillity, allowing the hare to exist peacefully within the landscape.

​

It is this apparent calm that creates the tension at the heart of the painting. The serene sunset and quiet countryside stand in stark contrast to the underlying narrative of vulnerability and persecution. The hare appears peaceful, yet the viewer is made aware of the precariousness of its existence.

​

The title Hope reflects this tension. Despite the threat suggested by the composition, the hare remains present, looking towards the light beyond the fields. The painting therefore becomes both a quiet observation of a vulnerable creature and a reflection on humanity's responsibility to protect the wildlife that shares the British landscape.

 

Oil on board 8x8in

​

Acquired

​

​​​​

 

​

​