Customer Reviews

Howard Hodgkin: The Complete Paintings: A Catalogue Raisonne

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Whenever I purchase a Catalogue Raisonne, I wonder how they are going to present a huge body of work. Some of the work often suffers in attempting to include everything an artist has ever produced. Not really the case here. There are some exceptions here where the work is reproduced in black & white but not a heck of alot.

I am indeed surprised at the size and quality of the reproductions. I have never seen any website reproductions that approach the detail that is evident here. This is as close to complete retrospective as you'll ever get. There is some non-pictorial content as well but great painting does not require a subtext.

This complete paintings catalog contains some great works that I have never seen before. The paintings from the beginning of Hodgkin's career (most of which don't call attention to the framing) are some of my favorites. As he moves to the painting on the frame as well as the "interior" space, some of these don't work for me but some are among his best paintings. I actually like the fact that he paints on the frames. I have always felt that a painting is in fact a three dimensional object, as well as containg the three dimensional illusion aspect. In anybody else's hands this could turn into gimmick but in Hodgkin's it does not.

Make sure you get the 2006 updated version of this book. It's 420 pages and fascinating.

This book is different from most catalogues raisonnees that I've seen, which often provide small, black and white reproductions. In this one, the reproductions are generally quite large, and almost all in color. It's a beautiful book, well worth the cost for anyone interested in Hodgkin.

This is an excellent overview of Howard Hodgkin's work. The early work is particularly informative with the artist really investigating space and somewhat unique use composition. His use of color is as always - special. The book is very well presented, and easy to read. One of the things that is striking about the work is the intellectual rigor or discipline the artist brings to each piece - they are completed in most cases over an extended period of time, and the contemplative quality of the work comes through. I highly recommended this book as one one that you can return to time and time again and enjoy the pleasure of the gaze.
Peter Whitting

i suppose now that we have lost Cy Twombly and now Lucian Freud these past few weeks, it will fall on the shoulders of the next in line to persevere...
Howard Hodgkins, has had brilliant acceptance in the London and Europe, but I don't know how well the US has gotten him.
It's a pitty and their loss.
He work is complex, easily satisfying, but scratch the surface, literally, and discover worlds upon worlds!
....an old student who enjoys a good painter, while they still exist!