Hodgkin’s view of India on display
HE NEVER got to be reunited with his prized work, but the latest exhibition at The Hepworth Wakefield remains a fitting tribute to one of Britain’s leading painters.
Before his death in March at the age of 87, Howard Hodgkin had been working closely with the gallery to showcase 35 works inspired by his visits to India over half a century, but one painting was particularly special.
In the 1970s, Mr Hodgkin had painted an abstract scene of the home of his friend and fellow artist Bhupen Khakhar, but it was later sold on and he never knew what happened to it.
Curators at The Hepworth were determined to track it down and after much detective work finally found it in the collection of a late Hollywood film executive.
The painting was shipped from America and while Mr Hodgkin hadn’t had chance to see it again he had been told it would take pride of place in the exhibition, which opens to the public tomorrow. Simon Wallis, the director of The Hepworth Wakefield, said: “It was a huge privilege for us to work so closely with Howard. His death is a great loss to us all.
“We are proud to be realising an exhibition about the influence of India on his work, a place that he was so passionate about and from which he drew such inspiration throughout his life.
“It will be a perfect summer exhibition with all the colour and warmth of a country that Howard developed such a close relationship to and finding the lost painting makes it all the more special.”