HODGKIN, Howard

1932 - 2017

Gordon Howard Eliot Hodgkin was born at Hammersmith, London on 6 August 1932, son of Eliot Hodgkin (1905–1973), a manager for the chemical company ICI and an amateur horticulturist, and his wife Hon. Katharine Mary Hewart (21 December 1907-20 February 1991), only daughter of the Lord Chief Justice Gordon Hewart, Katharine was a botanical illustrator, and they married at Temple Church, London City on 1 June 1929. During the Second World War, Katharine and her son and his sister were evacuated to the USA, and they lived on Long Island, New York. On returning to England, he was educated at Eton College and at Bryanston School in Dorset and then studied at the Camberwell School of Arts & Crafts and later at the Bath Academy of Art. A painter and printmaker known for his abstract and colourful compositions and was heavily influenced by the work of artists such as Henri Matisse (31 December 1869–3 November 1954) and Paul Cézanne (19 January 1839–22 October 1906). Hodgkin's paintings are characterised by their vibrant colours and expressive brushstrokes. He often worked in a small format, creating intensely personal and emotional works that conveyed a sense of intimacy and immediacy. Hodgkin was also interested in the relationships between colour, form, and space, and his paintings often blur the boundaries between abstraction and representation. In 1955, Hodgkin married Julia H A Lane (1933-) but in 1978 Hodgkin separated from Lane, leaving her with two sons, Louis and Sam and in 1983 he settled into a lifetime partnership with the music critic Antony Peattie (1953-). Howard Hodgkin had a strong connection to the town of Wissett in Suffolk, where he lived with his partner Peattie from the mid-1980s until his death, Wissett was not only their home, but also the location of his studio, where he created many of his later works. This connection to Suffolk is a significant aspect of Hodgkin's life and legacy, and his contributions to the art world continue to be celebrated and admired today. Throughout his career, Hodgkin exhibited widely and received numerous awards and accolades for his work and was appointed a CBE in 1977 and knighted in 1992. In 1985, he represented Britain at the Venice Biennale, and in 1992 he was awarded the Turner Prize. His work can be found in many prestigious collections around the world, including the Tate Gallery in London, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Despite being diagnosed with cancer in 2014, Hodgkin continued to work and create until his death on 9 March 2017.

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Works by This Artist