Howard Hodgkin
(1923-2017)
"Thinking Aloud in the Museum of Modern Art" from the series "In the Museum of Modern Art," 1979
Soft-ground etching on yellowish-gray Hodgkinson hand-made paper
Edition: 65/100
Signed, dated, and numbered in red pencil in the lower edge, at center: Hodgkin; Ken Farley and John Hutcheson, Petersburg Studios, New York, NY, prntr.; Petersburg Press, New York, NY, pub.
Image/Sheet: 30.5" H x 40.5" W
Literature: Tate Gallery 23

Other Notes: According to Hodgkin's partner, Antony Peattie, "Prints mattered to Howard all his working life. He collected them avidly... He delighted in the way prints made his own work available to a wider public and revelled in its technical challenges, as collaboration with printers offered him an alternative to the lonely solitude of painting studio." Scholar Richard Morphet wrote, "With a deep understanding of the sophisticated techniques required to bring out the desired colours and textures... Hodgkin's printmaking methods were incredibly ambitious, spontaneous and hugely experimental. Hodgkin employed an enormous variety of printmaking techniques, from lithography, to screen-printing, to intaglio works with additional carborundum and hand-coloring. His method of layering three or even four different printmaking techniques gave new potential to the medium. The result was a painterly fusion of rich printed colour with the more immediate and luminous hand-colouring."

Over time, the scale and technical intricacy of Hodgkin's prints tended to increase, and he occasionally switched master printers and publishers. What remained consistent through it all, however, was an ongoing interest in lush colors, broad, dynamic lines and marks, and the creation of mostly abstract compositions which he famously described as "representational pictures of emotional situations." His subjects were often very personal, stemming from memories and responses to people, places, literature, and admiration for artistic predecessors or peers such as Vuillard, Degas, Matisse, Hockney, and Ellsworth Kelly. Luckily, unlike some of his contemporaries, Hodgkin tended to title his paintings and prints; his descriptive word choices often help to make his abstract images more accessible than they would otherwise be.

Overall good condition. The full sheet with deckled edges. The sheet is framed floating and hinged to the back mat. Not examined out of the frame.

Framed under glass: 37" H x 47" W x 2" D Condition reports are offered as a courtesy and are typically published in Moran's catalogue or can be made available upon request. The absence of a condition report does not imply that an item is free from defects or restoration, nor does a reference to particular defects imply the absence of others. Buyers are responsible for determining to their own satisfaction the true nature and condition of any lot prior to bidding. Though buyers are not legally required to inspect lots prior to purchase, failure to do so may constitute a waiver of complaint that an item was not delivered in a condition equal to the existent condition at the auction.