Painter of landscapes and still life and some religious subjects, his pictures have a hard-edged clarity and surreal quality while appearing overtly realistic. Born in Peking, China, Hillier studied art at the Slade School in 1926 under Henry Tonks, then in Paris under Andre Lhote and at the Atelier Colarossi. In the 1930s he was one of the group of artists who formed Unit One. After he finished his studies until 1940 he travelled widely on the continent, often living alone for several months in Spain, France and Portugal, his scenes of sparsely populated villages or townships under a bleaching sun being developed during the winter months in Somerset. He met Braque and was impressed by the use of black in his pictures and those of Velsasquez and some of the Flemish painters; black is a feature of some of Hillier's still lifes such as Harness (Tate Gallery). His work shares characteristics with that of his friend Edward Wadsworth, with whom he painted abroad. After his first one-man show at the Lefevre Gallery in 1931 Hillier's work was popular with the picture-buying public and he went on to show widely in Britain and abroad. Elected RA 1967. His autobiography Leda and the Goose was published in 1954. Retrospective show at Worthing Art Gallery in 1960 plus a touring retrospective that included the RA in the year he died. Lived at East Pennard, Shepton Mallet, Somerset.