Eliot Hodgkin
Encyclopedia
Eliot Hodgkin was an English
painter
, born in Purley Lodge, Purley-on-Thames
near Pangbourne
, Berkshire
.
Although he began with oil painting
, most of his finest works were in tempera
, specializing in highly detailed still lifes.
. Eliot, a cousin of the abstract
painter Howard Hodgkin
(b. 1932) was educated at Harrow School
from 1919 to 1923. His artistic life started in London at the Byam Shaw School of Art and at the Royal Academy Schools under Francis Ernest Jackson
.
. His first one-man exhibition was in a London gallery in 1936. Shortly afterwards he began working in egg tempera.
In 1959 he turned down the opportunity of becoming an Academician, but continued to exhibit at the Royal Academy throughout his career, exhibiting a total of 113 paintings at the Summer exhibitions between 1934 and 1981.
Hodgkin has had one-man shows at the Leicester Galleries, New English Art Club, Picture Hire Galleries, Royal Academy, Royal Society of British Artists, Wildenstein, and in New York.
Eliot was also a writer. His books include: She Closed the Door (1931), Fashion Drawing (1932), 55 Views of London (1948), A Pictorial Gospel (1949).
In 1979 Hodgkin stopped painting because of worsening eyesight.
In a letter written to Brinsley Ford, Hodgkin wrote: "I like to show the beauty of things that no one looks at twice."
(1881–1972), his friend and former teacher. In 1967 Hodgkin contributed an article "How I Paint in Tempera" to "Tempera: Yearbook of the Society of Painters in Tempera", in which he wrote: "Tempera has no attraction for me simply because it was used by the Italian primitives, most of whose work does not greatly appeal to me. I use it because it is the only way in which I can express the character of the objects that fascinate me. With oil paint I could not get the detail without getting also a disagreeable surface: moreover I should have to wait while the paint dried before continuing."
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
, born in Purley Lodge, Purley-on-Thames
Purley-on-Thames
Purley on Thames or simply Purley, is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It forms part of the Reading urban area, but remains outside the borough, in West Berkshire. The village is situated about north-west of Reading, and east of Pangbourne...
near Pangbourne
Pangbourne
Pangbourne is a large village and civil parish on the River Thames in the English county of Berkshire. Pangbourne is the home of the independent school, Pangbourne College.-Location:...
, Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
.
Although he began with oil painting
Oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
, most of his finest works were in tempera
Tempera
Tempera, also known as egg tempera, is a permanent fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigment mixed with a water-soluble binder medium . Tempera also refers to the paintings done in this medium. Tempera paintings are very long lasting, and examples from the 1st centuries AD still exist...
, specializing in highly detailed still lifes.
Early life
Curwen Eliot Hodgkin was born on 19 June 1905, the only son of Charles Ernest Hodgkin and of his wife Alice Jane (née Brooke). The Hodgkins were a Quaker family and were related to Roger FryRoger Fry
Roger Eliot Fry was an English artist and art critic, and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Establishing his reputation as a scholar of the Old Masters, he became an advocate of more recent developments in French painting, to which he gave the name Post-Impressionism...
. Eliot, a cousin of the abstract
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
painter Howard Hodgkin
Howard Hodgkin
Sir Gordon Howard Eliot Hodgkin CH, CBE is a British painter and printmaker. His work is most often associated with abstraction.-Early life:...
(b. 1932) was educated at Harrow School
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
from 1919 to 1923. His artistic life started in London at the Byam Shaw School of Art and at the Royal Academy Schools under Francis Ernest Jackson
Francis Ernest Jackson
F. Ernest Jackson ARA was a British painter, draughtsman, poster designer and lithographer.-Background:Francis Ernest Jackson was born on 15 August 1872 in Huddersfield, the son of a printer. He was apprenticed as a lithographer, and later attended life-drawing classes at the Yorkshire College...
.
Career
By the middle of the 1930s Hodgkin had established himself as a painter of still lifes and landscapes, exhibiting regularly at the Royal AcademyRoyal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
. His first one-man exhibition was in a London gallery in 1936. Shortly afterwards he began working in egg tempera.
In 1959 he turned down the opportunity of becoming an Academician, but continued to exhibit at the Royal Academy throughout his career, exhibiting a total of 113 paintings at the Summer exhibitions between 1934 and 1981.
Hodgkin has had one-man shows at the Leicester Galleries, New English Art Club, Picture Hire Galleries, Royal Academy, Royal Society of British Artists, Wildenstein, and in New York.
Eliot was also a writer. His books include: She Closed the Door (1931), Fashion Drawing (1932), 55 Views of London (1948), A Pictorial Gospel (1949).
In 1979 Hodgkin stopped painting because of worsening eyesight.
Interest
Eliot Hodgkin provided a brief description of his interest in still life painting in 1957, in response to an enquiry from the editors of The Studio: "In so far as I have any conscious purpose, it is to show the beauty of natural objects which are normally thought uninteresting or even unattractive: such things as Brussels sprouts, turnips, onions, pebbles and flints, bulbs, dead leaves, bleached vertebrae, an old boot cast up by the tide. People sometimes tell me that they had never really ‘seen’ something before I painted it, and I should like to believe this… For myself, if I must put it into words, I try to look at quite simple things as though I were seeing them for the first time and as though no one had ever painted them before."In a letter written to Brinsley Ford, Hodgkin wrote: "I like to show the beauty of things that no one looks at twice."
Style
Hodgkin began painting in tempera in about 1937, using a medium based on a recipe given to him by Maxwell ArmfieldMaxwell Armfield
Maxwell Ashby Armfield was an English artist, illustrator and writer.Born to a Quaker family in Ringwood, Hampshire, Armfield was educated at Sidcot School and at Leighton Park School. In 1887 he was admitted to Birmingham School of Art, then under the headmastership of Edward R...
(1881–1972), his friend and former teacher. In 1967 Hodgkin contributed an article "How I Paint in Tempera" to "Tempera: Yearbook of the Society of Painters in Tempera", in which he wrote: "Tempera has no attraction for me simply because it was used by the Italian primitives, most of whose work does not greatly appeal to me. I use it because it is the only way in which I can express the character of the objects that fascinate me. With oil paint I could not get the detail without getting also a disagreeable surface: moreover I should have to wait while the paint dried before continuing."