other, across the sea if you like - after all this painting is one of the few to have a
genuinely
representational title - but with no excitement, nothing particular to say about his vision
of what is presumably the sea near to his studio in Pourville. The blues of the central
mention ‘Home’ and ‘In the blue room’.
portion afford no hidden depths, no contrast of brighter hues. Maybe the colour of the sea
is seen as if through a porthole window - rushing past, with no horizon definitely in sight
perhaps suggested by the lightening of the blue. The brushstrokes are largely similar -
broken up slightly by the green border - maybe the green grasses by the coast. The
colours are analogous and the only slight drama is created by the vertical stripe of warm
yellow on the right-hand side. In his interview in “Transcripts”, Hodgkin admits that oval
shapes are difficult in terms of dynamics because of their predominant direction, which has
“an even stronger identity than a disc, a circle, or a square”.(p15). He goes on to say that
“the problem of large scale has, to me, become paramount”(p24): he has experimented
with larger sizes increasingly, and says that “You can put more into a larger version …in
the big pictures ….there is room for space and light. And much more of the subject”.p23
I would argue that this painting is a bad example of these possibilities, and shall be
looking at “Night and Day” and “Memories” to show some examples of his work which
use these effects to good advantage.
In 1988-91 Hodgkin painted ‘Home’(compare with other works in the past)
One of the most striking things about Hodgkin’s work is the balance he manages to create
between representation and abstraction. As Robert Hughes says in “The Shock of The
New”, “(Hodgkin’s work) cannot readily be classified as either abstract of figurative,
though it is subtly autobiographical. In the 1960s, he painted ‘Dancing’, where “he
reconciles figure and abstraction”. P13 HH. He made the decision early of in his career to
work with a mixed formal language, never completely yielding to either pole. In‘Evening
Sea’ we see him obviously leaning closer to the ‘representational’ side, and I think that
this explains in part, why the painting is much less successful than most, in my opinion.
There is no real attempt to create a particular moment or emotion, which is strange, for
he describes himself as “a representational painter, but not a painter of appearances
…(painting) representational pictures of emotional situations”, nor does the colour excite
of inform us of any underlying concerns. On the contrary, ‘Bombay Sunset’ 1972-73
manages to combine the literal hot, analogous colours of India with an abstract design
which boldly conveys the claustrophobia of heat and humidity.
So where does Hodgkin fit in, for example, with the Abstract Expressionists? He is obviously an ‘expressionist’ painter with a small ‘e’: his gestural approach and obvious mark-making show to be such, and also he is concerned with emotions, or emotionally-charged meanings. He is not, however, to be confused with the early Expressionists, european artists who showed that “abstract compositions could serve as effectively as subject pictures”. (P30 expressionism in ‘Concepts’), where “the expressive power of colours and shapes, of brushstrokes and texture, of size and scale (were) shown to be sufficient”.(p30 as above). Among the New York-based Abstract Expressionists working between the wars, de Kooning, for example, stressed the importance of spontaneity and of ‘gestural’ painting, Rothko, a leading figure in the movement, whose “formless canvases” are said to “evoke the true spirit of the movement - an ultimate response to the unattainable mysteries of the human psyche”. (The Art Book).
I would now like to look at one of the works in the current exhibition which `
I talked earlier about the representation of depth (or lack of it) in ‘Evening Sea’. Hodgkin
painted ‘After Degas’ in 1993 and it has huge depth. How does he create this? The
frame is much more separate from the picture than usual. The green, almost monumental
structure appears to be quite far back in the picture plane, and this effect is emphasized by
the blue of the background - which clearly reads as ‘blue sky’.
Hodgkin builds up his paintings often over a period of several years, and during this time
layers and layers of paint are laid onto the wooden panels, usually leaving spaces where
previous layers are allowed to show through. ‘Memories’ 1997-99 is a good example of
this. (colours and how they work)
What of the frame itself? In ‘Evening Sky’ the edge or border of the table is separated by
a narrow join, but is emphasized by the use of the bright green. Here in ‘After Degas’, we
have seen how a frame can be used in the more traditional way - as something separate
from the picture, but providing a way of looking at it.
“The End of the Day” 1999. A title that can be read in a number of different ways. Is it
as it sounds - a depiction of a particular time of day, or is it ‘the end of the artist’s day?
Maybe he is feeling more vulnerable now “..he admits that he’s getting older and feels a
need to do things.” Jonathan Jones. The frame is “swathed in an oily black” JJ which
“creeps in over the painting”, gradually obsuring light and colour and life”.JJ. Hang on a
minute, what about the intense, vibrating colour relationships inside this frame. There is
a strong feeling of ‘push and pull’: a hedonistic, optimistic centre waiting to burst out.
The dark band is pushing in, but which will win? Perhaps it is just the end of one day,
when gloomy thoughts were uppermost in the artist’s mind, and who know’s, tomorrow
will bring another bright masterpiece. Here the frame is used pictorially to set off the
loudest of colours - what better way than to place them against black - It is used in a
similar way in ‘Comeback Dull Care’
And now to come to a painting that seems to me to be the epitome of Hodgkin’s
continuing genius: “Night and Day” 1997-99. It hangs in a stunning position facing you
as you enter the second room. Its thick, broad frame quickly sweeps you up in holds you
in its power:(comments on size from Biennale interview)
light green and warm yellow around the frame and border, cadmium red behind,
astoundingly set off by ultramarine. Hodgkin favoures a limited palette, often using
varieties of the primaries, and therefore the hues are rich in intensity and brightness. He
knows just how much of each to set against the next. Hodgkin was much influenced by
the Fauves - and of course Matisse. (add notes on these two influences).He comes from
the French tradition much more than the English tradition of painting. By this I mean that
he is not afraid to use colours which shout. They are exciting and innovative colour
combinations. They are passionate, powerful, controlled.
The passion in ‘Night and Day’ can be seen in other paintings at this exhibition, such as
‘Learning about Russian Music’1999, (add more):indeed his own physically passionate
nature is much more overt than it has been in the past. ‘Good Morning’ has a slightly
curved erect shape, which is decidedly sexual; ‘Keepsake’ can easily be read as a sexual
orifice, and these in turn refer back to ‘Lovers’, in which the encounter is hinted at (other sexual picts.)
(comments about life and art from older Anthony d’Offay exhibition catalogue and large HH book).Hodgkin has talked about Art as a replacement for language and is very unkeen
to talk about his work. Perhaps the fact that his work becomes at times more like a
personal visual diary is too embarrassing - or just too intrusive on his private self. I don’t
consider ‘Keepsake’ to be a good example of his work - it seems to be largely
representational and more like a private love letter than a great work of art that relates to
everyone - but it shows how close he gets at times to mingling his private life and his
public life as an artist. It is also a token of his total honesty in his work - it is his own
personal expression.
It seems to be a good point to look further into the depiction of psychological space in the
paintings. To go back in time almost to Hodgkin’s very first painting (“name ist one of
all - in large HH book) “Name of First” deals with (see notes on HH Book- refers to it)
There is an obvious retrospective flavour to ‘Memories’, but not a specific memory. It is
presumably a broad sweep across the years; it conjures up a mood. The marks read like a
dictionary of what he has used over the years: (describe brushstrokes etc.) The title
brings to mind the earliest surviving picture ‘Memoirs’ 1949: two figures in an interior,
painted from memory. There is a reclining woman, with her head not visible and a seated
man. We feel a sense of watching something that we perhaps shouldn’t be: a prurience or
voyeuristic stance, something that Hodgkin does again in ?? He seems to be almost
saying that he has as it were come round again to that point that he started out from.
Figures frequently appear in his work, but with a increasingly abstract base over the years.
Friends often - Hodgkin’s overriding preoccupation with recording what he called ‘the
emotion or feeling of an encounter’ (find quote) He makes no sketches or studies, except
with his imagination - often storing the images away for years before attempting to
represent them in paint. We are confronted by the emotional space of that particular
moment - how it fits into the artist’s psyche and sense of himself and his life, and also the
space of time since the actual event and the way that the representations have been built
up. Interior space as a formal concern began as claustrophobic ‘Memoirs’ and continued
to realistically controlled ‘Grantchester Road’, gradually turning into the light emanating
from the colours themselves (see ‘light and colour’ from colour and culture)
Conclusion.
the emotional, formal and intellectual concerns which have got him to this point, now, in his late sixties.
PLAN
INTRO.
‘BAD PAINTING’ “Evening Sea”
SIZE - compare with “Memories”
how colour relates to size. - see Maria’s bk.
(MEMORY)
COLOUR - analogous
‘Home’, ‘In the blue room’.
REPRESENTATION v.ABSTRACTION
‘114 Sinclair Road’. How does he use colour? Like Abstract Expressionists, or Realists? (some of each). ‘Shock of New’ and ‘C.of Colour’.p253.
Expressionist.
SPACE AND DEPTH - “Grantchester Road”, and history of his work
pictorial space, and depth, interior/exterior space and history of it.
‘After Degas’ ‘Memories’ - psychological space (maybe here or with ‘layering’
below).
USE OF WOOD
‘OTHER PAINTINGS’
SUBJECT MATTER AND TITLES
Memories - intro.Specific emotion, moment, person, lover
PORTRAITS - FRIENDS
Sachs. (both) p30 HH
‘Kathy at Heuze’, ‘Kathy at the Ritz’.
PORTRAITS - EROTIC
voyeurism. ‘Lovers’. ‘Memoirs’.(relates to ‘Memories’.)
‘Keepsake’, ‘Good morning’, ‘Once more with feeling’.
‘D.H. in Hollywood’.
PLACES - ‘Theatre’
‘Snapshot’, ‘Pourville’.
PLACES - ‘India’
way colour is used. See particularly ‘actualites’
End with memories - nostalgia.
‘Once in Kashmir’, ‘Caeralla’(India)
‘Bombay Sunset’. ‘Come back Dull Care’.
‘GOOD PAINTING’ - “Night and Day”
COLOUR - OWN
green - grandmother.
‘A leap in the dark’, ‘In the blue room’
‘Fisherman’s cove’.(astounding colour).
COLOUR - MATISSE
originally from N.Y.visit
‘Pourville’ - relates to Matisse at Collioure ‘Open Window’
(Itten bk.) links with ‘Piano lesson’ - see newspaper article.
‘After Matisse’
COLOUR - FAUVES
LAYERING - own techniques
brush techns./splodging/pattern/dynamics
‘When did we go to Morocco’, ‘In Rutland Gate’, ‘Chez Stamos’.
FRENCH TRADITION v.ENGLISH
conflict. Tradition.
FRAME - PHYSICAL
dark border/ Bright, part of ptg.
‘Patrick Caulfield in Italy’, and ‘Patrick in Italy’.
FRAME - PSYCHOLOGICAL
MODERNIST/POSTMODERNIST/OUTSIDER
influence of Hayward exhib.on HH
picture surface.
HANGING
AUDIENCE
Language v.visual
END OF WORK - especially ‘End of Day’. ‘Come back Dull Care’
relationship with career - end? Vagueness of some titles.
Quote p32 mid. ‘at his boldest, as well as most vulnerable’. (?1999 exhib.cat.)
Absence of colour - darkness - ‘Sunset’, ‘Dark Mirror’.
END ON UPBEAT NOTE - BRING MAIN POINTS TOGETHER FROM ‘END
OF DAY’.
COLOUR SYMBOLISM or not
quote from Maria’s book, mention very dark pics.
CONCLUSION
(Colour History has not been included - use bits in different sections).
[First of all, let’s think about the colours he chooses. Hodgkin painted ‘After Matisse’ in
1995-99. It is one of a sequence of occasional homage paintings (such as ‘After Corot’,
‘Morandi’, ‘After Degas’) Strangely the palette he chooses is not that of Matisse, with
whom we are much more likely to associate red (such as in ‘Red Studio’ 1911) or blue
(‘Blue Window 1912 or 1913). Therefore he must be choosing colours that are more
concerned with the mood of Matisse’s work - colour as an equivalent of attitude. It is an
expression of the way that Hodgkin uses colour as capturing a feeling or emotion, rather
than in any literal sense. This is linked with memory, and will be discussed later on. To
look back again at the colours in ‘Evening Sea’: they are harmonious, analogous and cool,
and Hodgkin feels no need to set them off with something complimentary or warmer.]
