Howard Hodgkin

Sir Gordon Howard Eliot Hodgkin CH, CBE (born 6 August 1932)[1] is a British painter and printmaker. His work is most often associated with abstraction.

Hodgkin's paintings often seek to convey memories of encounters with friends and frequently carry titles alluding to specific places and events such as Dinner at West Hill (1966) and Goodbye to the Bay of Naples (198082). Hodgkin himself has said that he paints "representational pictures of emotional situations," a statement that fixes him firmly as an advocate of the expressionist movement. Hodgkin's appeal to representationalism prevents his categorization as an abstract expressionist - although some artists within that movement do execute representational paintings. As a formidable expressionist, Hodgkin occupies a lonely space somewhere between the incandescent impressions of Turner; the powerful emotional explosiveness of Van Gogh and the colder abstractions of Pollock, De Kooning and the late canvases of Kline.

Despite their apparent spontaneity and usually small scale, many of Hodgkin's paintings take years to complete, with the artist returning to a work after a wait and then changing it or adding to it. He often paints over the frames of his pictures, emphasising the idea of the painting as an object. Several of his works are on wooden items, such as bread-boards or the tops of old tables, rather than canvas. A number of his works not shown in frames are surrounded by rectangles of simple colour.

(His prints are hand-painted etchings and he has worked with the same master printer (Jack Shirreff at 107 Workshop) and print publisher (Alan Cristea Gallery) for the last 25 years.)

This was the most striking out of all of his paintings. Compared to the others it consisted of the most unique technique and use of limited cold colours. I like how immediately I thought of water when I saw the painting. A lot of Hodgkins other work looks quite abstract and refined, particularly pieces such as Mrs Nicholas Munroe and Mr and Mrs E.J.P. Tears, idle Tears, at first glance, seemed the most expressionist and I felt it had a lot to tell never the less its such a simple, washy painting.

Tears, Idle tears2001Etching, aquatint and carborundum on paper29.5 x 37.5cmPresented by the artist, in the Tate, in 2001

Tears, Idle Tears is a small, brightly coloured image that evokes the gestural immediacy of Hodgkin's gem-like paintings. The fact that the painting is so small allows for intimacy between the painting and the viewer. I feel that intimacy is important to engage the spectator and allow them to feel part of the work. It is said that Hodgkin had used others to help him create the work and that this is just one of a nine-part series. Hand-colouring has since become an integral aspect of the artist's print-making technique.Hodgkin remembers having read of the anonymous decorators of pottery, and the memory influenced his practice. According to Hodgkin, the artist is often tempted to alter an image through successive reinterpretations. This quote about where Tears, Idle Tears was influenced from, shows that Hodgkin paints from memory, (which is the theme of this art project (archiving memories)). However as memories become distorted alterations are made to the painting. When looking at the piece however, it feels almost as if the entire memory is distorted, unlike other works by Hodgkin which are refined, this work seems like the memory has faded, or washed away. This is my interpretation of the painting. Tears, Idle Tears were printed from two plates in blue and turquoise and hand-coloured in black by Shirreff under the artist's guidance. (Shirreff was just one of the people that Hodgkin worked with on the painting). The printed marks are fluid and gestural and convey the energy and spontaneity characteristic of Hodgkin's prints. The marks appear to have been made by a splayed brush and suggest an oval vortex of swirling, bubbling water. They are overlaid by black hand-coloured washes that evoke oil floating on the surface of water. With my interpretation, the oil floating on the surface of the water could be representing a memory. Perhaps this is suggesting that the memory is at risk of disappearing or drowning in the tears and these quick spontaneous washes are sudden moments of desperation to retrieve it. The use of 'tears' could highlight Hodgkin emotions in this particular memory, perhaps it was quite a sad, sombre moment in his life.

The prints layered, gestural quality evokes the slow accretion of painterly layers characteristic of Hodgkin's paintings. This results from his experimental manipulation of the printing processes in conjunction with hand-colouring. He used lift-ground aquatint to create the spontaneous, painterly printed marks that form the base of the image. The process enabled him to paint directly onto the plate. When the plate was printed, the ink mirrored the original painted mark. Hodgkin also used carborundum, a printing technique that gives the image a pitted, textured quality. The technique involves applying, with brush or hand, a stodgy carborundum paste that dries on the plate. When inked and printed the carborundum partly embosses the paper, giving the print a relief-like character.Like many of Hodgkin's prints and paintings, the title of the work alludes to an event in the artist's life. Hodgkin draws his inspiration from the memory of personal experiences and moments in time: a place visited, a meal eaten, a friend observed, a mood experienced or a moment recalled. These memories, moods and experiences are then imaginatively transformed, the prints and paintings evoking the depth and richness of lived experience.I think that the simplicity of the artwork can be quite misleading at first glance. But once you look into it and create your own interpretation of the painting, which may trigger even your own memories you see that the piece goes further than a blue, washy painting. It is just one interpretation of one of Hodgkin's memories. I think what is so interesting is that he could reinterpret or re-imagine the exact same memory in a completely different way.

Artist: Howard Hodgkin (born 1932) Title: Mrs Nicholas MonroDate: 1966-9 Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 127 x 121.9 cm

The artist wrote (8 May 1970): 'Mrs Nicholas Monro' commemorates a moment in March, 1966 when Cherry stripped after lunch in the living room of their cottage in order to put on a 1938 crepe de chine dress. The blue disk behind is a mirror which was hung about a year later. I have known Cherry for many years but the portrait is of that moment.The picture has been very much altered while being painted because I wanted if possible to retain the whole figure by itself. I have only once otherwise tried anything at all similar and then all that was left was a fragment. I didn't want to depict her face.

It was quite surprising to hear that 'Mrs Nicholas Monro' actually depicts a person, because at first glance I did not see that at all. Although, now with this information in mind, I begin to see human-like shapes. Its interesting how Hodgkin paints his memories, the colours and bold, abstract shapes. I really feel that Hodgkin tries to convey the message that memories are distorted, otherwise the artist's paintings would be realistic and in this case, a woman. His choice of very bold, primary colours here could suggest the memories being a blur, hence the odd shapes as well. The comparison between 'Tears, Idle tears' and 'Mrs Nicholas Monro' is quite stark. Firstly, the tears painting is very washy and depicts its subject 'tears' much more clearly than the Mrs Nicholas painting which doesn't really represent its subject in a straightforward manner. Although they both depict particular moments in Hodgkin's life and I think that the viewer appreciates the artist allowing us to experience and reinterpret these very personal memories in our own way.