Table of Contents
Return to New York (1938 - 1940)
Greenwich Village (I940 - 1950)
Trinidale: Country Living (1950 - 1959)
Return to Trinidad: Beauty and Horror Both (October 1959 - May 1960)
New York: Blossoming in the Nothingness of the City (May 1960 - March 1961)
Heaven: Trinidad a Scented Soft Couch (April 1961 - February 1962)
Retreat and Return (February 1962 - February 1964)
Resettling in New York (February 1964 - March 1967)
New Career: The Elmhurst Hospital (March 1967 - October 1972)
A Madison Avenue Gallery (November 1972 - April 1976)
“Kidnapped” and Sent to Trinidad (April 1972 - October 1977)
The Final Years (October 1977 - June 1982)
Return to New York
1938 - 1940
The 1930s to this point mark Hugh’s coming of age as a painter. He had been testing his technical abilities as he had become increasingly familiar with both contemporary art and the art of the past. He established themes and subject matter that he would return to throughout his career. He was now on the cusp of his mature work.
By 1937 plans were afoot for Hugh to return to New York, but this did not happen until August 1938 after he was granted immigrant status.
Hugh's plan to live on his own however was still a way off, instead of getting the apartment he wanted in the city, he went to live with his brother Alex and his family.
Hugh had been painting feverishly in anticipation of his move to NYC and he continued to do so after his arrival. He represented Trinidad and Tobago or possibly the West Indies at the 1939 Worlds Fair and his painting ‘Indian Woman’ became part of the IBM Art collection in commemoration of the Fair. This is the only exhibition at which we know Hugh showed until the mid-1950s. That does not mean he did not exhibit but there is no record of his having done so.
