Frances Hodgkins: Leitmotif - Auckland Art Gallery
Frances Hodgkins: Leitmotif - Auckland Art Gallery Frances Hodgkins: Leitmotif - Auckland Art Gallery
14leitmotiffig.7 kimmeridge foreshore c.1938 oil on canvasvictoria university of wellington collectionalso staying there. Hodgkins was particularly adept at suggestingintimacy in both the double format, a composition to which sheseemed drawn, and in family groups which often comprised amother and her children. Furniture or the patterned fabric ofgarments was often used to link the figures together in a rhythmicalmanner. 11Rather than creating a dynamic surface in a three-dimensionalspace on which objects were placed, in later still lifes fabric becamea kind of inner frame, rising vertically on the surface of the canvas.This is particularly evident in her wry self-portrait still lifes, wherean arrangement of brightly patterned scarves intertwine, a jumblednest for items from her wardrobe, such as a shoe, handbag, belt ormirror. 12 Dating these self-portraits is particularly difficult. Theywere given originally to close friends such as Geoffrey Gorer andCedric Morris, and so may never have been intended for publicdisplay. In a letter to her friend the Neo-Romantic painter, JohnPiper, in the latter part of 1941 Hodgkins described how she perceivedthe relationship between herself and her work; ‘Myself, Iwould say that I, my medium, and my subject act & react to producenew & vital creations &, if possible, achieve a perfect balance‘.While she felt comfortable translating the figures of others, Hodgkinspre-empted Postmodernism in recognizing the impossibility ofcapturing the self in a single image.Once war was declared in 1939, neither the bold clarity of theMediterranean with its brilliant light and seductive forms, nor thelush English countryside were easily accessible. By necessity Hodgkinswas forced to paint the surroundings close to hand, which for themost part were defined by the area known as the Isle of Purbeck,with Corfe Castle, her home for much of the war, near its centre.Kimmeridge Foreshore [fig.7], begun in 1938 but not exhibited until1940, reflects her ongoing practice of painting from memory, whereher concentration on form and composition would not be marredby the profusion of detail in the landscape. During this period
16leitmotiffig.8 purbeck farm 1942 gouacheauckland art gallery toi o tâmaki, purchased 1955she made a number of paintings which depicted ghostly farmyardmachinery, their forms looming out of spaces only faintly definedby the outline of barns, hayricks and harvesters. Whereas her earlierstill lifes often floated into the landscape, now the objects themselvesare fused with atmospheric effects that seem to wrap around them.Farmyard activities had been the focus of British artists in the early1920s as symbols of timeless productivity in harmony with the land[fig.8]. By contrast, the Neo-Romantics, with whom Hodgkins wasloosely grouped in this latter period, saw such machinery, especiallywhen decayed or inactive within a rural setting, as emblematic of theeffects of war on society. Some of Hodgkins’ most powerful worksduring the war refer to the blackout – abstracted nocturnes –darkness filled with traces of colour and the memory of light.Invocations of favourite motifs continued to take the viewer bysurprise. A review of her exhibition in 1937 noted:Frances Hodgkins is a genuinely individual painter who has slowly evolvedher own idiom to express her own novel vision… [She] looks at the objects shedepicts – flowers and fruit, landscape and animals, implements of farm andhousehold – as though she were seeing them for the first time, without meaningor association; nothing for her is too common or mean, or too rare and exotic. 13Hodgkins’ career was marked throughout by her determinationto succeed as a painter. She confronted the wide-ranging developmentsin Modernism, experimenting with painting techniquesto create her own personal and innovative style of working.Her ability to interweave favoured motifs into her paintings,while never ceasing to explore their relationship to space and form,ultimately led Frances Hodgkins to what Arthur Howell recognisedas an astounding abstract control of all she put on her canvas.Mary KislerMackelvie Curator, International ArtAuckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki -
- Page 1: franceshodgkinsleitmotif
- Page 4 and 5: introductionIn the 1930s and 40s, F
- Page 6 and 7: 6leitmotiffig.1 red jug c.1931 oil
- Page 8 and 9: 10leitmotiffig.3 phoenician pottery
- Page 12: 18notesfrances hodgkinsat her best
- Page 16 and 17: 26notes1. Gill p. 326. Letter to Ha
16leitmotiffig.8 purbeck farm 1942 gouacheauckland art gallery toi o tâmaki, purchased 1955she made a number of paintings which depicted ghostly farmyardmachinery, their forms looming out of spaces only faintly definedby the outline of barns, hayricks and harvesters. Whereas her earlierstill lifes often floated into the landscape, now the objects themselvesare fused with atmospheric effects that seem to wrap around them.Farmyard activities had been the focus of British artists in the early1920s as symbols of timeless productivity in harmony with the land[fig.8]. By contrast, the Neo-Romantics, with whom <strong>Hodgkins</strong> wasloosely grouped in this latter period, saw such machinery, especiallywhen decayed or inactive within a rural setting, as emblematic of theeffects of war on society. Some of <strong>Hodgkins</strong>’ most powerful worksduring the war refer to the blackout – abstracted nocturnes –darkness filled with traces of colour and the memory of light.Invocations of favourite motifs continued to take the viewer bysurprise. A review of her exhibition in 1937 noted:<strong>Frances</strong> <strong>Hodgkins</strong> is a genuinely individual painter who has slowly evolvedher own idiom to express her own novel vision… [She] looks at the objects shedepicts – flowers and fruit, landscape and animals, implements of farm andhousehold – as though she were seeing them for the first time, without meaningor association; nothing for her is too common or mean, or too rare and exotic. 13<strong>Hodgkins</strong>’ career was marked throughout by her determinationto succeed as a painter. She confronted the wide-ranging developmentsin Modernism, experimenting with painting techniquesto create her own personal and innovative style of working.Her ability to interweave favoured motifs into her paintings,while never ceasing to explore their relationship to space and form,ultimately led <strong>Frances</strong> <strong>Hodgkins</strong> to what <strong>Art</strong>hur Howell recognisedas an astounding abstract control of all she put on her canvas.Mary KislerMackelvie Curator, International <strong>Art</strong><strong>Auckland</strong> <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong> Toi o Tamaki -
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