- Artist
- Howard Hodgkin 1932–2017
- Medium
- Oil paint, watercolour and etching on paper
- Dimensions
- Image: 121 × 153 mm
- Collection
- Tate
- Acquisition
- Purchased 1984
- Reference
- P77047
Catalogue entry
Howard Hodgkin born 1932
P77047 Cardo's Bar (Red) 1979
Softground etching with hand colouring 121 x 153 (4 3/4 x 6) on John Kollar hand-made paper, same size; printed and hand-coloured by Ken Farley at Petersburg Press Studio, New York and published by Petersburg Press, New York in an edition of 50
Inscribed ‘H H' bottom centre and ‘A/P' on back bottom centre
Purchased from Petersburg Press (Grant-in-Aid) 1984
Exh: Howard Hodgkin: Prints 1977-1983, Tate Gallery, Sept.-Dec. 1985 (18, repr. in col.)
Lit: Pat Gilmour, ‘Howard Hodgkin'; Print Collector's Newsletter, vol.12, March-April 1981, p.3; Richard Morphet, ‘Introduction' in [Elizabeth Knowles (ed.)], Howard Hodgkin: Prints 1977-1983, exh. cat., Tate Gallery 1985, p.16, repr. p.19 (col.) and p.54
P77046
and P77047 were printed from identical plates on small pieces of paper (possibly samples) found at the Petersburg Press studio in New York. The size of the images was determined by the paper. P77046
was hand-coloured with black oil crayon and P77047 was hand-coloured with watercolour - a green wash background - and with red oil crayon. Close examination of the prints suggests that in both the upper right and lower left corners of the central area the artist has used thumb prints to form the image. Hodgkin was unable to recall whether this was the case.
According to the artist the image represents a ‘literal description of the scene' at Cardo's Bar which Hodgkin had visited in Oklahoma. The pronounced use of the coloured border appears as a window frame onto a ‘furnished' interior with curving bar to the left and human activity to the right.
On many occasions, Howard Hodgkin has explored the duplication of identical images through their hand colouring. P77050 is one of a pair while the series ‘In the Museum of Modern Art', 1979 (repr. Tate Gallery exh. cat. 1985 p.55), contains four prints (two pairs) from two plates. Series and pairs have also featured in his painted oeuvre, most notably in ‘Indian Leaves', 1980 (repr. ‘Indian Leaves', Petersburg Press, 1982), which comprised fifteeen pairs of images painted in Ahmadabed. P77046
and P77047 are typical of other pairs of prints where one is monochrome and the other coloured. These include ‘Sand' and ‘Blood', 1983 (repr. Tate Gallery exh. cat. 1985, p.58) and the two versions of ‘Artist and Model' 1980 (repr. Tate Gallery exh. cat. 1985, p.56). Such prints are not interdependent and should not necessarily be displayed as a pair. Variable hand colouring allows Hodgkin to create an alternative mood and extend the reach of the image. In this particular pair the coloured version, P77047, was completed first.
Published in:
The Tate Gallery 1984-86: Illustrated Catalogue of Acquisitions Including Supplement to Catalogue of Acquisitions 1982-84, Tate Gallery, London 1988, p.387
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