Howard Hodgkin

M. Knoedler & Co. Inc., New York
Eric F. Meneyo, Boston
William and Penelope Govett, London
Saatchi Collection, London
Sale, Sotheby's London, 5th December 1991, lot 53
Israel Phoenix Assurance Company Collection, Tel Aviv
Their sale, Sotheby's London, 5th February 2004, lot 29, where acquired by the previous owner
Their sale, Christie's London, 14th February 2012, lot 65, where acquired by the present owner

Aachen, Neue Galerie-Sammlung Ludwig, 13 Britische Künstler, Eine Ausstellung über Malerei, 5th December 1981 - 16th February 1982, cat. no.19, with British Council tour to Kunstverein Mannheim, Mannheim, and Kunstverein Braunschweig, Braunschweig;
New York, M. Knoedler & Co. Inc., Howard Hodgkin Recent Paintings, November - December 1982, cat. no.13;
London, Waddington Galleries, Howard Hodgkin, 24th August - 17th September 1988;
Nantes, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Howard Hodgkin, Small Paintings: 1975-1989, 1st June - 31st December 1990, cat. no.7, with British Council tour to Fundació Caixa de Pensions, Barcelona, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh and Douglas Hyde Gallery, Trinity College, Dublin;
Jerusalem, The Israel Museum, British Figurative Painting of the 20th Century, 10th November 1992 - 9th February 1993, un-numbered catalogue.

Richard Armstrong, 'Howard Hodgkin', in Artforum, Vol. 21, February 1983, p.71;
Howard Hodgkin: Forty Paintings, 1973-1984 (exh. cat.), London, Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1984, p.11;
Eric Gibson, 'The Hodgkin Paradox', Studio International, Vol.198, March 1985, pp.23-25, illustrated p.25;
Alistair Hicks, New British Art in the Saatchi Collection, Thames & Hudson, London, 1989, no.33, p.47, illustrated p.51;
Marla Price, Howard Hodgkin Paintings, Harry N. Abrams, London, 1995, cat. no.161, illustrated p.174;
Marla Price, Howard Hodgkin Paintings: The Complete Catalogue Raisonné, Thames & Hudson, London, 2006, cat. no.161, illustrated p.177.

The board and frame appear sound. The edges of the board are slightly uneven in places, thought to be in keeping with the Artist's materials, and there is some slight rubbing and wear around the edges in places, including towards the top of the left vertical edge, which appear to be inherent to the piece. There is a small scuff, with some associated tiny flecks of loss, near the centre of the upper edge, and a further very small scuff with some associated tiny flecks of loss towards the lower side of the left vertical edge. There are a few tiny losses to the frame in one or two places, some of which correspond to underlying nail heads. There is some slight uneveness in tone to the pigments in places, thought to be as a result of the Artist's varnish. There are some extremely minor traces of light surface dirt and studio detritus to the work. Subject to the above, the work appears to be in very good overall condition. Ultraviolet light reveals an uneven layer of varnish, but no obvious signs of fluorescence or retouching. The work is presented in the Artist's own painted wooden frame. Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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Howard Hodgkin's exhibition of portraits Absent Friends opened to great fanfare at the National Portrait Gallery, London, in March earlier this year. The first exhibition to explore portraiture throughout his career, the exhibition emphasizes that his eloquent visual language speaks of very specific memories, of people and places unique to Hodgkin’s personal experiences. Utilising colour, pattern and line in a highly individual manner, Hodgkin has created a sophisticated and compelling pictorial architecture, inviting the viewer to imaginatively explore spatially ambiguous settings, in a fantastically intense palette.

The present work is related to an earlier painting, Dinner at Smith Square, 1975-9 (Tate, London), currently on view at the National Portrait Gallery's exhibition. The subject of both works are the collectors Robert and Lisa Sainsbury, who were close friends of the Artist. Describing the earlier of the two works, Hodgkin recounted that it depicts: ‘two very old friends of mine talking to each other below a small painting by Bonnard. The husband is on the left of the painting leaning slightly back from the table and his wife sits upright on the other side. The picture was started in monochrome because the hero was once heard to say, “How beautiful is a picture painted only in black and white!” But more colour became necessary as time went on. Their life is full of art.’ (Howard Hodgkin, quoted in Paul Moorhouse, Howard Hodgkin, Absent Friends (exh. cat.), National Portrait Gallery Publications, London, 2017, p.124). Upon discovering that he was working on this piece, the Sainsburys generously and frequently invited him to dinner to refresh his memory of the scene, on one occasion also posing so he could make preparatory drawings - an unusual occurrence given that Hodgkin so rarely made studies of the sitters for his portraits.

The two works have comparable compositions; in After Dinner at Smith Square, the Sainsburys can still be discerned opposite one another, underneath the aforementioned Bonnard. Some similarities in palette and brushwork remain, however in the present work Hodgkin has introduced a rich, dark border surrounding the dazzlingly bright hues of turquoise, pink and red which nestle, gem-like, in the centre of the work. His brushstrokes, variously stippled and swept onto the board, overlap and layer with an eloquent fluidity, demonstrating his mastery of the medium. Commenting on this technique of both constructing a border and painting the frame of a work, creating paintings which are also objects, he has noted: 'The more evanescent the emotion I want to convey, the thicker the panel, the heavier the framing, the more elaborate the border, so that this delicate thing will remain protected and intact.’ (Howard Hodgkin, ibid., p.100). In After Dinner at Smith Square, Hodgkin has distilled and preserved the memory of this encounter into a deft, celebratory painting captured in rich, resplendent tones.