Born in 1932 in
London,
UK, Howard Hodgkin studied at Camberwell School of
Art,
London and the
Bath Academy of Art, Corsham, between 1949 and 1954. He was initally associated with the British
Pop Art movement, but his later work is influenced by
Fernand Leger's 'tubism' and likened by himself to 'representational appearances of emotional situations' such as memories of meals in restaraunts, and holidays to
Italy,
Morocco and
India. The
feelings he espresses in his paintings are captured in intense colors; remembered people and objects are transformed into expressive splotches, swirls and blobs of paint. The paintings tend to be
objects:
thick wooden boards, never
canvas, and heavily
framed. His work seems
spontaneous, but they are often the outcome of several years of layering and repainting. He won the
Turner Prize in 1983, and some of his better known pieces include :-
Grantchester Road, 1975
A Small Thing but My Own, 1983-85,
Dinner in Palazzo Albrizzi, 1984-88,
Gossip, 1994-95,
More examples of his work can be seen at http://www.artchive.com/artchive/ftptoc/hodgkin_ext.html