1. Howard Hodgkin
Sir Gordon Howard Eliot Hodgkin CH, CBE (born 6 August 1932)[1] is a British painter and printmaker.
His work is most often associated with abstraction.
Hodgkin's paintings often seek to convey memories of encounters with friends and frequently carry titles
alluding to specific places and events such as Dinner at West Hill (1966) and Goodbye to the Bay of
Naples (1980–82). Hodgkin himself has said that he paints "representational pictures of emotional
situations," a statement that fixes him firmly as an advocate of the expressionist movement. Hodgkin's
appeal to representationalism prevents his categorization as an abstract expressionist - although some
artists within that movement do execute representational paintings. As a formidable expressionist,
Hodgkin occupies a lonely space somewhere between the incandescent impressions of Turner; the
powerful emotional explosiveness of Van Gogh and the colder abstractions of Pollock, De Kooning and
the late canvases of Kline.
Despite their apparent spontaneity and usually small scale, many of Hodgkin's paintings take years to
complete, with the artist returning to a work after a wait and then changing it or adding to it. He often
paints over the frames of his pictures, emphasising the idea of the painting as an object. Several of his
works are on wooden items, such as bread-boards or the tops of old tables, rather than canvas. A number
of his works not shown in frames are surrounded by rectangles of simple colour.
(His prints are hand-painted etchings and he has worked with the same master printer (Jack Shirreff at
107 Workshop) and print publisher (Alan Cristea Gallery) for the last 25 years.)

2. This was the most striking out of all of his
paintings. Compared to the others it
consisted of the most unique technique and
use of limited cold colours. I like how
immediately I thought of water when I saw
the painting. A lot of Hodgkin’s other work
looks quite abstract and refined, particularly
pieces such as ‘Mrs Nicholas Munroe’ and
‘Mr and Mrs E.J.P.’ Tears, idle Tears, at first
glance, seemed the most expressionist and I
felt it had a lot to tell never the less it’s such
Tears, Idle tears a simple, washy painting.
2001
Etching, aquatint and carborundum on paper
29.5 x 37.5cm
Presented by the artist, in the Tate, in 2001

3. “ ‘Tears, Idle Tears’ is a small, brightly coloured image that evokes the gestural
immediacy of Hodgkin's gem-like paintings.” The fact that the painting is so small
allows for intimacy between the painting and the viewer. I feel that intimacy is
important to engage the spectator and allow them to feel part of the work. It is said
that Hodgkin had used others to help him create the work and that this is just one of a
nine-part series. “Hand-colouring has since become an integral aspect of the artist's
print-making technique.”
“Hodgkin remembers having read of the anonymous decorators of pottery, and the
memory influenced his practice.” “According to Hodgkin, the artist is often tempted to
alter an image through successive reinterpretations.” This quote about where ‘Tears, Idle
Tears’ was influenced from, shows that Hodgkin paints from memory, (which is the theme of
this art project (archiving memories)). However as memories become distorted alterations are
made to the painting. When looking at the piece however, it feels almost as if the entire
memory is distorted, unlike other works by Hodgkin which are refined, this work seems like
the memory has faded, or ‘washed’ away. This is my interpretation of the painting.
“ ‘Tears, Idle Tears’ were printed from two plates in blue and turquoise and hand-coloured
in black by Shirreff under the artist's guidance. (Shirreff was just one of the people that
Hodgkin worked with on the painting). The printed marks are fluid and gestural and
convey the energy and spontaneity characteristic of Hodgkin's prints. The marks appear
to have been made by a splayed brush and suggest an oval vortex of swirling, bubbling
water. They are overlaid by black hand-coloured washes that evoke oil floating on the
surface of water.” With my interpretation, the oil ‘floating’ on the surface of the water could
be representing a memory. Perhaps this is suggesting that the memory is at risk of
disappearing or ‘drowning’ in the tears and these quick spontaneous washes are sudden
moments of desperation to retrieve it. The use of 'tears' could highlight Hodgkin emotions
in this particular memory, perhaps it was quite a sad, sombre moment in his life.

4. The prints layered, gestural quality evokes the slow accretion of painterly layers
characteristic of Hodgkin's paintings. This results from his experimental manipulation of
the printing processes in conjunction with hand-colouring. He used lift-ground aquatint
to create the spontaneous, painterly printed marks that form the base of the image. The
process enabled him to paint directly onto the plate. When the plate was printed, the ink
mirrored the original painted mark. Hodgkin also used carborundum, a printing
technique that gives the image a pitted, textured quality. The technique involves
applying, with brush or hand, a stodgy carborundum paste that dries on the plate. When
inked and printed the carborundum partly embosses the paper, giving the print a relief-
like character.
“Like many of Hodgkin's prints and paintings, the title of the work alludes to an event in
the artist's life. Hodgkin draws his inspiration from the memory of personal
experiences and moments in time: a place visited, a meal eaten, a friend observed, a
mood experienced or a moment recalled. These memories, moods and experiences are
then imaginatively transformed, the prints and paintings evoking the depth and richness
of lived experience.”
I think that the simplicity of the artwork can be quite misleading at first glance. But once
you look into it and create your own interpretation of the painting, which may trigger
even your own memories you see that the piece goes further than a blue, washy painting.
It is just one interpretation of one of Hodgkin's memories. I think what is so interesting
is that he could reinterpret or re-imagine the exact same memory in a completely
different way.

5. “The artist wrote (8 May 1970): 'Mrs
Nicholas Monro' commemorates a
moment in March, 1966 when Cherry
stripped after lunch in the living room of
their cottage in order to put on a 1938
crepe de chine dress. The blue disk
behind is a mirror which was hung about
a year later. I have known Cherry for
many years but the portrait is of that
moment.
The picture has been very much altered
while being painted because I wanted if
Artist: Howard Hodgkin (born 1932) possible to retain the whole figure by
Title: Mrs Nicholas Monro itself. I have only once otherwise tried
Date: 1966-9 anything at all similar and then all that
Medium: Oil on canvas was left was a fragment. I didn't want to
Dimensions: 127 x 121.9 cm depict her face’.”

6. It was quite surprising to hear that 'Mrs Nicholas Monro' actually depicts
a person, because at first glance I did not see that at all. Although, now
with this information in mind, I begin to see human-like shapes. Its
interesting how Hodgkin paints his memories, the colours and bold,
abstract shapes. I really feel that Hodgkin tries to convey the message that
memories are distorted, otherwise the artist's paintings would be realistic
and in this case, a woman. His choice of very bold, primary colours here
could suggest the memories being a blur, hence the odd shapes as well.
The comparison between 'Tears, Idle tears' and 'Mrs Nicholas Monro' is
quite stark. Firstly, the tears painting is very washy and depicts its subject
'tears' much more clearly than the Mrs Nicholas painting which doesn't
really represent its subject in a straightforward manner. Although they
both depict particular moments in Hodgkin's life and I think that the
viewer appreciates the artist allowing us to experience and reinterpret
these very personal memories in our own way.