Come into the Garden, Maud
The joy and energy in the paintings describes the artists journey; in this documentary Hodgkin’s becomes our guide.
A Picture of the Painter Howard Hodgkin documentary celebrates Howard Hodgkin’s 50 years of painting exhibition at The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin 2006. The documentary is filmed in a most magnificent location; the large bustling Indian town square in Fatehpur Sikri meaning ‘City of Victory’ UNESCO’s ghost town. Seeing the documentary on screen, is pure escapism. I can see the meditative and ponderous powers on the imagination of the ineffable grandeur preserved, as a backdrop to local people going about their everyday lives, notably the Indian women and children are dressed in a vivid range colours, interacting with each other through work and discourse; creating an array of visual colour and compositional arrangements that Hodgkin keenly observes and admires.
A Picture of the Painter Howard Hodgkin documentary celebrates Howard Hodgkin’s 50 years of painting exhibition at The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin 2006. The documentary is filmed in a most magnificent location; the large bustling Indian town square in Fatehpur Sikri meaning ‘City of Victory’ UNESCO’s ghost town. Seeing the documentary on screen, is pure escapism. I can see the meditative and ponderous powers on the imagination of the ineffable grandeur preserved, as a backdrop to local people going about their everyday lives, notably the Indian women and children are dressed in a vivid range colours, interacting with each other through work and discourse; creating an array of visual colour and compositional arrangements that Hodgkin keenly observes and admires.
Sad Flowers
Julian Barnes describes a Hodgkin painting he has at home featured in the documentary as being ‘a blazing picture of complete joy, with a hint of green grey undertones that could symbolize melancholy.’ There is not much sadness to see, the joy and enthusiasm of orange in the painting below titled Keep it Quiet is fantastic. Dynamic brush strokes give the illusion of depth with their disrupted and blurred edges. If you asked Hodgkin’s what a painting means he’ll avoid explaining; as it’s very difficult to do so working from his nervous system from a moment or memory. This doesn’t deter Alan Yentob and us as the audience for seeking further explanations. We are met with Hodgkin’s evasiveness; it is here we bond with both the artist and interviewer, consequently the lack of explanation enables the viewer to interact with the pieces respectfully and mindfully.
The titles such as Rain, Sad Flowers, Keep it Quiet, are a few mentioned subjects of the pieces, and sometimes these subjects can be literal or ironic and coincidental. Julian Barnes quotes, “When travelling with Howard he and have a running joke occasionally sitting in a bar or relaxing in a restraint, staring at a sunset, gazing at a piazza. He will say with a delivery poised between self-satire and true contentment… I feel a picture coming on. I richly reply I feel a novel coming along. He means it more than I do, well I never mean it. And I often wonder what is happening inside his head at these moments. Howard looks intently all the time, but when he says he feels a picture coming on, he seems to be looking differently, the moment is digestive, ruminant. And I know he will remember everything, that’s to say everything he needs; and will need.” If you love India, travel, and culture and want to feel a sense of departure from the everyday. Hodgkin’s paintings offer the most sublime respite.
Keep it Quiet
