Robert Griffiths Hodgins

(South African, 1920-2010)

Figure

Footnotes

Provenance
Bonhams, London, 27 October 2010, lot 153;
A private collection, UK.

The bright yellow and vivid blue of the present work exemplifies Robert Griffiths Hodgins's expressive use of colour. The titular figure is simplified almost to the point of abstraction: gestural brushstrokes articulate the outline of the torso and taper to form an outstretched arm. Passages of hot pink and red highlight the face and cast an aura around the figure which bleeds into the sunny yellow background. Hodgins's fluid handling of paint conveys a deftness of expression synonymous with his approach to figuration. This experimentation with form and colour underpins the artist's tendency towards abstraction and evokes stylistic tropes associated with European modernism, particularly German Expressionism, illustrating the influence of art history on his painterly practice.

Born in 1920 in London, Hodgins emigrated to South Africa in 1938, returning to complete his studies in art and education at Goldsmiths College. Due to work commitments and a stint serving in the military, he only settled back in South Africa in the 1950s. While he exhibited his work sporadically during the following decades, it was not until he retired from his career as a painting tutor at the University of Witwatersrand in 1983 that Hodgins came to wider attention. Finally able to dedicate his energy solely to painting, he held a mid-career survey in Grahamstown in 1986. Since then, Hodgins's prolific output has been presented in many solo and group exhibitions, the majority of which have taken place in Johannesburg where the artist lived and worked. His influence on fellow South African artists is evident through the collaborations in print and film he undertook with Deborah Bell (b. 1957) and William Kentridge (b. 1955).

Today, Hodgins's work can be found in many galleries and important public collections including the Johannesburg Art Gallery, the Pretoria Art Museum, the South African National Gallery in Cape Town, and the University of Witwatersrand Art Galleries.