Howard Hodgkin first started printmaking in the mid-1950s at Corsham Court, where the likes of William Scott had trained, and Clifford Ellis oversaw the printmaking classes. So began a long career of producing editions. However, it was not until Hodgkin encountered the printer Jack Shirreff that he truly embraced the full potential of the medium. Carborundum etching was the catalyst for this change, and Hodgkin set about creating monumental prints under the expert guidance of Shirreff at his 107 Workshop in Wiltshire. Carborundum allowed the artist to paint directly onto plates, giving incredible depth and texture to the results, with surfaces echoing impasto paintings. It was a process that Hodgkin described as “marvellously liberating.” To complete these works, swathes of vibrant hand colours in egg tempera were washed across the surface.
Hodgkin’s use of colour is quite atypical for a British painter of his generation. Growing up in a drab post-war Britain, it is not surprising that colour became a vessel through which the artist could escape the humdrum. Although Hodgkin drew inspiration from many sources, it was perhaps his international travels which made the most significant impression on his creative output. India had a particularly strong influence on the artist, contributing to his rich and vibrant palette, as exemplified in Indian Tree. Hodgkin first visited the country in 1964 and continued to return throughout his career, indicating the impact that these visits had on his artistic process through the statement, “I couldn’t do my work without India.” Aside from his visits, Hodgkin also amassed an exquisite collection of Indian art which provided him with sustained creative stimulation.
Similarly, a 1988 trip to Morocco resulted in the large-scale print Moroccan Door. The vivid blue of the inks in this work seemingly recalls the colours of Chefchaouen, Morocco’s so-called ‘Blue City’. Nearby Tangier also served as an inspiration to Hodgkin, as the print Street Palm - an image of a palm tree, conjured from the artist’s memory of the view from a hotel – was based on an earlier oil painting titled In Tangier. Palm trees were one of Hodgkin’s favoured and frequently repeated motifs. He described these simplistic yet exuberant images - among them Night Palm, Street Palm, Palm and Window and Flowering Palm - as “soothing, straightforward, uplifting and raising the spirits.” While India and Morocco certainly influenced Hodgkin’s palette, these prints were also inspired by the colourful, large-scale travel posters that were prevalent in the Paris Métro in the 1950s and '60s. These posters were symbols of a certain post-war glamour and directness that Hodgkin hoped to evoke in his bright and spontaneous compositions.
