Howard Hodgkin

This book was published on the occasion of Howard Hodgkin at Gagosian, rue de Ponthieu, Paris, the artist’s first solo exhibition in France. Embracing acts of painterly reflection and capitulation, Hodgkin articulated dramatic gestures in a lush palette. Incorporating frames and wooden supports as part of their painted surfaces, these works form abstractions that allude to everyday encounters and memories of places and experiences.

The bilingual (English/French) catalogue features color plates and details of the twenty-two works in the exhibition, alongside numerous texts. It reprints “In Paris with You,” a poem by James Fenton. An essay by Susan Sontag contemplates the nature of the artist’s work, discussing how he employed visual seduction and alluded to places and sensibilities. A text by Julian Barnes recollects impressions of Hodgkin and his work while considering the challenges of writing about visual art. A conversation between Jean-Pierre Criqui and Jeff Wall and an essay by Hodgkin further elucidate his practice.