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Revisiting Modernism: Group Exhibition

Past exhibition
27 September - 14 October 2023 Auckland City
Frances Hodgkins, Portrait of Mrs Elizabeth Curtis, 1939
Frances Hodgkins, Portrait of Mrs Elizabeth Curtis, 1939
Frances Hodgkins, Portrait of Mrs Elizabeth Curtis, 1939

Frances Hodgkins

Portrait of Mrs Elizabeth Curtis, 1939
charcoal and watercolour on paper
527 x 393mm
790 x 635mm framed
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Further images

  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 1 ) Pauline Yearbury, Haka
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 2 ) Pauline Yearbury, Haka
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 3 ) Pauline Yearbury, Haka
Frances Hodgkins (1869 – 1947) is considered by many to be the defining New Zealand artist of her generation. Born in Dunedin in 1869, Hodgkins was intent on pursuing a...
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Frances Hodgkins (1869 – 1947) is considered by many to be the defining New Zealand artist of her generation. Born in Dunedin in 1869, Hodgkins was intent on pursuing a life in art from an early age. She studied figurative art throughout her youth, and by her early 20s had become highly skilled. Writer and curator Alexa Johnston wrote, “Having been elected a working member of the Otago Art Society at the age of twenty-one, Frances had decided that painting was to be her life.” She set out to pursue greater opportunities in Europe, though returned to New Zealand several times over the ensuing decades. Hodgkins developed an excellent reputation in the UK, France, Australia, and New Zealand, particularly for her skill with watercolour.

Highly influential during her lifetime, Hodgkins stature has only grown since her passing in 1947. Two of her works are included in this exhibition, Still life with vases of flowers and a bowl of fruit on a tabletop, c.1920, and Portrait of Mrs Elisabeth Curtis, 1939. These works demonstrate her mastery of watercolour painting, and the differences between them show her ongoing innovation and artistic development. The earlier of the two is an exquisitely composed and technically excellent still life. The latter is an unconventional portrait, where the subject – Mrs Elisabeth Curtis – shares the picture plane with a vase of flowers. Charcoal undertones give the work a dark palette, though this combination of media is handled with sophistication and flair.

Catalogue number: FH1161
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Provenance

Acquired directly from the artist by the sitter, and by descent.
Acquired by the present owner from a private collector in November 1989.
Christie's London, Modern British and Irish Art Day Sale, 22 March 2023, Lot 147

Exhibitions

London, Lefevre Gallery, Frances Hodgkins, November 1946, no. 53, as 'Portrait of Elizabeth Curtis with Orchid'.
Revisiting Modernism, 27 September - 14 October 2023, Gow Langsford Gallery, Kitchener St, Auckland, NZ

Literature

A.R. Howell, Frances Hodgkins: Four Vital Years, London, 1951, p. 101.
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