Post 51 - Lit Review B - Essay 4

Howard Hodgkin : Window, Wall, Dream  - Framing Memories

Sally Barron MFA part 2 Lit B essay 4

 Framing Space

In Jesse Murry’s essay “Reflections on Howard Hodgkin’s Theatre of memory”, 1981 [1] he noted how the painting A Henry Moore at the Bottom of the Garden (fig. 1), is a still object on the wall but the world presented within it is moving, as if the picture is caught within a window.[2] The fat green frame is a proscenium arch as in a theatre, the figures, or marks within are the players on a stage. Their identities shift between figurative and abstract forms, and furthermore if the marks are figurative their meaning is metaphoric.[3] They act as formal elements of the painting but also function as metaphors for experiences remembered or taken from life, recalling fleeting moments, experiences, emotions, and visual impressions.

Figure 1. Howard Hodgkin, A Henry Moore at the Bottom of the Garden. 1975-1977. Oil on wood, 103 x 103 cm.

These paintings are hybrids, they are objects and experiences.[4] The titles further serve to draw the viewer closer yet also obfuscate their meanings, continuing a state of flux where the objects are abstract and representational.

To seal in these experiences Hodgkin makes the picture become the display box where the objects within become the artefacts of memory.[5] Within this display box, pictorial marks and brushstrokes form a ‘grammar of vision’[6]that also could be said to function musically as if the bars of the notes were being recorded in paint and lay out the constructed process of the picture’s making.  Hodgkin has said about his mark making “I want them to be impersonal—dots, stripes, or lines. I want my pictures to be things.”[7]

In this way it is similar to his framing motifs, literal or painted borders helping to create a well-ordered whole experience. Murry describes it as a physically felt phenomena, like music,[8] “hearing with our eyes” in the tonal play of colour for example (fig. 2).[9]

Figure 2. Hodgkin, Howard. Music. 2014-2015.

Oil on wood, 30.5 x 46.4 cm.

Hodgkin made frames integral to his art.[10] He cut wood panels to fit inside old frames that he found and treated the entire object, frame and all, as his painting surface. Sometimes he used the backside of a frame and sometimes the carved front. The frames “fortify” the paintings,[11] whether they reinforce a traditional sense of pictorial space as a window onto the world or operate more conceptually to sharpen focus and attention on the painted mark (fig 3).12]

Figure 3. Hodgkin, Howard. Portrait of the Artist Listening

 to Music. 2011-2016. Oil on wood, (186 x 263 cm).

Hodgkin has said that he prefers simple compositions to his paintings,[13] and the frames focus our attention, preventing the eye from wandering as it might in an abstract composition. The edges of his paintings are important, containing specific spaces and recalling precise moments from the world, with the frame solidifying these recollections as definite and significant.

One of Hodgkin's most distinctive formal effects was the integration of a painted frame within the picture-space itself. In iconic works such as Rain,2011 (fig. 4), expansive, expressive brush-strokes delineate the canvas's edges, embodying the self-reflective ethos of twentieth-century painting. This technique allows the painting to comment subtly on its own presentation and placement, transforming it into a self-contained object in the world, while also serving as a portal into an imaginative space.[14]

Figure 4. Hodgkin, Howard. Rain. 2011.

Oil on wood, 65.4 x 76.5 cm.

Hodgkin has also reflected on the dual role of frames in his artwork, noting their traditional function as boundaries between real and pictorial spaces.[15] He challenges this notion by suggesting that the painting itself serves as both the boundary and the entirety of pictorial space. Sometimes Hodgkin paints trompe l’oeil frames, blurring the line between real and illusionary spaces.[16] His circular formats often require fragmentary compositions to imply continuation beyond the edges, avoiding the visual vacuum of a central void. This interplay between frame, space, and composition showcases Hodgkin's keen awareness of spatial dynamics and the nuanced relationship between representation and perception (fig. 5 & 6).

Figure 5. Hodgkin, Howard. Evening Sea.

1998. Oil on wood, 175.9 x 260.4 cm oval.

Figure 6. Hodgkin, Howard. Antony’s Blue Palm. 2002. Oil on wood, 24.5 x 29.5 cm oval. Notes: This is an innovative use of the frame in reverse, with the circular moulding facing the wall. A related painting is Blue Palm.

Framing the Landscape

Hodgkin has described his work as “representational pictures of emotional situations”,[17]and this also informs his approach to landscapes. His landscapes are not just depictions of physical scenery but are infused with emotional significance. For instance, in Rain, 1984-89 (fig. 7) Hodgkin uses bold brushstrokes and rich colours to evoke the affective atmosphere of a rainy day rather than just illustrating the weather.

Figure 7, Hodgkin, Howard. Rain.

1984-1989. Oil on wood, 163.8 x 179 cm.

In Hodgkin's later paintings, there is a similar interaction with natural elements such as rain, sun, and drifting clouds, as well as with the texture of wood and the foliage of trees. Like Richard Long and other English land artists of the time, Hodgkin's connection to nature and its elements is expressed and embodied through the creation of symbols and the selection of motifs (fig. 8).

Figure 8. Hodgkin, Howard. An Early Landscape.

2004-2006. Oil on wood, 36.5 x 52.4 cm.

However, it's important to temper this comparison, as Hodgkin's approach is less immersive: he observes from a sheltered viewpoint, often through a window or across a theatrical stage.[18] He translates his observations from the external world to the internal realm of his paintings, where wood serves not only as canvas but also as framing and furniture within the artwork itself.

 Framing the Subject

Art Critic Paul Hills examines the paradox of this very painterly painter, since he is also being considered as a “sculptural” one, exploring how in his last decade Hodgkin “moved from wood to water to music, from solid things to liquid, from tangible to metaphysical.”[19](fig. 9).

Figure 9. Hodgkin, Howard. Water. 2016.

Oil on wood, 41.9 x 48.3 cm.

Howard Hodgkin's sculptural painting approach converges with modernist and contemporary collage through their shared focus on materiality and an amalgamation of diverse elements. Hodgkin's utilization of wood panels, incorporating their texture and imperfections, echoes the collage artist's integration of disparate materials into cohesive compositions.

 Hodgkin's appreciation for wood as both material and colour was influenced by his lifelong love of furniture and carved ornament, as well as his devotion to Georges Seurat. For the 2000 exhibition, Encounters: New Art from Old, at the National Gallery in London, Hodgkin painted a large version of Seurat’s Bathers at Asnières, 1884 (fig. 10), in a loose style similar to Seurat’s smaller studies.

Figure 10. Hodgkin, Howard. Seurat’s Bathers.

1998-2000. Oil on wood, 185.4 x 282.6 cm.

Seurat’s small wood panel studies often utilized the natural tone of the wood as a warm ground, leaving areas bare between brush marks, as seen in works like Man Painting a Boat, c. 1883 (fig. 11). 

Figure 11. Georges Seurat,

Man Painting a Boat. 1883-1884. The Courtauld, London.

 Furthermore, Hodgkin's collage piece At Sea, shows him blending various materials such as paper, fabric, and paint to create multi-layered compositions, in addition to his constant engagement with the work of fellow artists like Matisse, Degas, Morandi, Hockney, and others.

Hodgkins work encompasses a wide array of influences, resonating with the intimate portrayals of Vuillard and Bonnard's intimism paintings, while also reflecting formal elements akin to Pop Art and the colour-field techniques of artists like Ellsworth Kelly and Kenneth Noland from the 1960s. His method echoes John Baldessari's notion that "art, if it's meaningful at all, is a conversation with other artists".[20] An example of this can be seen in Hodgkin's engaging a dialogue with the tradition of British landscape painting, such as with a work like After Samuel Palmer (fig. 12).

Figure 12. Howard  Hodgkin,

After Samuel Palmer. 2003-2005.  Oil on wood, 26.9 x 31 cm.

 Yet, Hodgkin's primary focus remains one of capturing the emotional, psychological, and physical essence of his own specific experiences. Guided by memory, he conjures the atmosphere of domestic interiors and the nuances of conversations, employing a language of marks and symbols honed since the 1950s.[21]

 Subject and Object, Form and Content

In his own words, Hodgkin painted “representational pictures of emotional situations”[22] characterized by their reluctance to fit into conventional categories. Despite their emotional depth, they are often labelled as "decorative" or less serious due to their bright colours and intimate scale. Hodgkin's painting process involves a personal vocabulary of marks and gestures, with meanings that are fluid and subjective. The act of painting is a private yet emotionally charged process for Hodgkin, with each painting representing a moral responsibility of creating something where there was nothing before.[23] Hodgkin's paintings inhabit the space between figuration and abstraction, where the physical support of the wood becomes integral. Marks and gestures shape the spatial dynamics and convey allusive qualities.[24]

 Time Frame

Famously taking a long time to create a painting, Hodgkin also incorporated time as a key element in composition (fig. 13). His paintings are an engagement with the ephemeral nature of thoughts, emotions, and transient private moments. Writer James Lawrence calls the pictures “surrogates,” standing in place of the amorphous thoughts of the mind.[25]

 Hodgkin invites the viewer into a world where the past is always present, and where the boundaries between reality and memory are fluid and ever-changing.

Figure 13. Howard Hodgkin, As Time Goes By (red), 2009. Oil on wood, 244 x 610 cm.

As Hodgkin put it “For an artist, time can always be regained . . . because by an act of imagination you can always go back.”[26]

 Foot notes

1 Jesse Murry, Painting Is a Supreme Fiction: Writings by Jesse Murry, 1980–1993 (Soberscove Press, September 28, 2021). 101, Citing Jesse Murry “Reflections on Howard Hodgkin’s Theatre of Memory” Arts Magazine, June 1981, 154-57

2 Jesse Murry, Painting Is a Supreme Fiction: Writings by Jesse Murry, 1980–1993 (Soberscove Press, September 28, 2021).102

3 Murry, Painting Is a Supreme Fiction, 103.

4 Murry, 102

5 Murry, 103

6 Murry, 105

7 Howard Hodgkin, interview by A.M. Homes, "Howard Hodgkin," Artforum, January 1, 1996, https://www.artforum.com/features/howard-hodgkin-3-203114/ (accessed June 18, 2024).

 5 Murry, 105

6 Murry, 105

7 Howard Hodgkin, interview by A.M. Homes, "Howard Hodgkin," Artforum, January 1, 1996, https://www.artforum.com/features/howard-hodgkin-3-203114/ (accessed June 18, 2024).

8 Murry, 105

9 Murry, 105

10 Paul Hills, "Howard Hodgkin, Sculptural Painter," in Howard Hodgkin: Last Paintings (2018), 9–15, accessed June 9, 2024, https://www.academia.edu/40330155/Howard_Hodgkin_sculptural_painter?hb-sb-sw=40722840.

11 Paul Hills, "Howard Hodgkin, Sculptural Painter," 9–15

12 Leah Ollman, "Howard Hodgkin Talks About His Work," Los Angeles Times, February 11, 2011, accessed June 8, 2024, https://howard-hodgkin.com/resource/howard-hodgkin-talks-about-his-work.

13 David Ebony, "Finding His Frame: Q+A With Howard Hodgkin," Art in America, November 8, 2011, accessed June 8, 2024, https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/interviews/howard-hodgkin-gagosian-56240/.

14 Murry, 105

15 Ebony, "Finding His Frame."

16 Ebony, "Finding His Frame."

17 Stuart Jeffries, "There's less time, so on one goes: Howard Hodgkin at 80," The Guardian, July 28, 2012, https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/jul/28/howard-hodgkin-saturday-interview, accessed June 13, 2024.

18 Murry, 107

19 Hills, "Howard Hodgkin, Sculptural Painter," in Howard Hodgkin, Last Paintings (2018): 9–15

20 David Salle, "John Baldessari," Interview Magazine, October 9, 2013, accessed June 13, 2024, https://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/john-baldessari.

21Homes, Art Forum, December 1998

22 A.M. Homes, interview with Howard Hodgkin, Art Forum, December 1998, https://www.artforum.com/features/howard-hodgkin-3-203114/, accessed June 8, 2024.

23 Homes, Art Forum, December 1998

24 Murry,  2021, 107

25 James Lawrence, Howard Hodgkin: From Memory (New York: Gagosian Gallery, 2016).

26 Paul Hills, Howard Hodgkin: Last Paintings  (New York: Gagosian Gallery, 2018).

Bibliography

Ebony, David. "Finding His Frame: Q+A With Howard Hodgkin." Art in America, November 8, 2011. Accessed June 8, 2024. https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/interviews/howard-hodgkin-gagosian-56240/.

Hills, Paul. Howard Hodgkin: Last Paintings. New York: Gagosian Gallery, 2018.

Homes, A.M. "Interview with Howard Hodgkin." Artforum, December 1998. https://www.artforum.com/features/howard-hodgkin-3-203114/. Accessed June 8, 2024.

Jeffries, Stuart. "There's Less Time, So On One Goes: Howard Hodgkin at 80." The Guardian, July 28, 2012. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/jul/28/howard-hodgkin-saturday-interview. Accessed June 13, 2024.

Lawrence, James. Howard Hodgkin: From Memory. New York: Gagosian Gallery, 2016.

Murry, Jesse. Painting Is a Supreme Fiction: Writings by Jesse Murry, 1980–1993. Soberscove Press, September 28, 2021.

Ollman, Leah. "Howard Hodgkin Talks About His Work." Los Angeles Times, February 11, 2011. Accessed June 8, 2024. https://howard-hodgkin.com/resource/howard-hodgkin-talks-about-his-work.

Salle, David. "John Baldessari." Interview Magazine, October 9, 2013. Accessed June 13, 2024. https://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/john-baldessari.