News
Gallery welcomes Frances Hodgkins exhibition - 29 Jun 2010
Frances Hodgkins, one of the most significant modernist painters of the 20th century, comes to Tauranga Art Gallery next month. Frances Hodgkins:femme du monde opens at the Gallery on Saturday 3 July.
Hodgkins is considered one of New Zealand’s most prestigious and influential painters, an esteem not bestowed upon her by her countrymen during her lifetime, due to her Post-Impressionist style not conforming to the traditional New Zealand landscapes of the time.
Spanning a 55 year period, from 1890 to 1945, Frances Hodgkins: femme du monde traces the meteoric rise of this Dunedin born artist from her fledgling days as an amateur painter, who was taken under the wing of the Italian bohemian artist Girolamo Pieri Nerli, to her eventual induction and concurring of the British modernist art scene.
Hodgkins is a pivotal figure in the history of New Zealand art largely because she showed from the very beginning the necessary strength of character and self-discipline to make a successful career as an artist. As a result Hodgkins spent the substantial proportion of her artistic life overseas, particularly in Britain and Europe, as she sought the critical rigour and sustenance of a more dynamic art community. While Hodgkins grew to become a woman of the world, through the people she befriended and artistic experiences she had abroad, she always retained a strong bond with her homeland.
Toward the end of her years, Hodgkins finally gained the acclaim she deserved, and her works were highly sought after. At the time of her death in 1947, aged 78, Hodgkins was regarded as one of Britain’s leading artists.
The exhibition traces the development of Hodgkins’s artistic style in more than 30 major works drawn from the Dunedin Public Art Gallery’s collection as well as private collections in the Bay of Plenty, including that of local eccentric, ‘Springheel Jack’.
Michael Hodgkins, or Springheel Jack as he was dubbed due to his peculiar gait, was Frances Hodgkins’ nephew. An avid botanist, Michael (1902-1965) lived in a hut, without electricity or running water, by a salt marsh in Otumoetai, surrounded by paintings by his aunt that he inherited from his father.
Michael’s eccentricity provided inspiration for Frank Sargeson’s character Matthew in his autobiographical essay ‘Up onto the roof and down again’, and Ian Mune’s tramp, Rotten Fred (The Mad Dog Gang meets Rotten Fred & Ratsguts, 1977).
Frances Hodgkins: femme du monde can be viewed at the Gallery until 5 September.
Alongside the exhibition, the Gallery has also secured Jan Bolwell’s critically acclaimed play, Double Portrait: Finding Frances Hodgkins, on the intensely colourful life of the artist. Although Hodgkins’ artistic life was lived in the public eye, her private life remained an enigma. Bolwell’s script uncovers a life filled with eccentricity, hardship, fun and love and explores the relationships Hodgkins had with friends, family and agents. The play is at the Gallery for two shows only: 1pm and 7pm, Friday 23 July. Tickets are $20 (students $10) and can be purchased from the Gallery.
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