Howard Hodgkin is one of those names that I’ve grown up with yet I think I’ve only ever seen one or two of his paintings together in real life at any one time.
So walking past Hazlitt-Holland-Hibbert Gallery after delivering a painting on the eve of the second lock-down offered me the perfect opportunity to have a proper look.
I had read that his work was about mood, the evocation of a time & place. As with so many artists though, I found it to be about the fascination with colour and paint. The colours and the energy of brush-strokes particularly nailed it for me. Perhaps the following images will show you what I mean.
His large paintings, like the one above, are perhaps better known, but the little pieces, approximately 20 x 30cm are equally powerful. You can fall into their world.
He was a lifelong collector of Indian paintings including miniatures so knew that impact isn’t limited to the size of a piece.
I couldn’t agree with him more.
