Catalogue

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‘My subject matter is simple and straightforward. It ranges from views through windows, landscapes, even occasionally a still-life, to memories of holidays, encounters with interiors and art collections, other people, other bodies, love affairs, sexual encounters and emotional situations of all kinds, even including eating...’ - Howard Hodgkin

Born in London in 1932, Howard Hodgkin is one of the foremost British painters of his generation. Painted on wood in thick swathes of colour, his paintings can often appear purely abstract. In fact they are attempts to recapture the sensation of specific moments from the memory and transform them into pictures that get to the heart of being itself. Many of these paintings are based on Hodgkin's friends and are thus technically portraits, although Hodgkin makes no attempt to portray people realistically. Although a title and a specific outcome for a picture are chosen at the outset, the process of painting is often improvisatory built from the application of spots, blobs, arcs and thick bands of intense colour are applied with brushes of differing sizes.

Published to accompany a major retrospective touring exhibition curated by Tate Director Sir Nicholas Serota, the book will be the most thorough survey of Hodgkin’s career to date, giving new insights into the artist’s motivations and technique.

Nicholas Serota is Director of Tate.

James Meyer is Associate Professor of Art History at Emory University.