Welcome to our collection of quotes by the renowned British painter, Howard Hodgkin. Hodgkin’s work is celebrated for its vibrant colors, bold brushstrokes, and emotive abstract compositions. Through his distinctive style, he captured the essence of fleeting moments and emotions, inviting viewers into his personal experiences and memories. His art transcends traditional boundaries, blurring the lines between representation and abstraction, leaving a lasting impact on the contemporary art world.
As a master of color and form, Howard Hodgkin once said, I am a representational painter, but not a painter of appearances. I paint representational pictures of emotional situations. This quote reflects his unique approach to painting, where he aimed not to replicate reality but to convey the emotional resonance of a moment. Throughout his career, Hodgkin remained dedicated to exploring the interplay between memory, perception, and expression, resulting in a body of work that continues to inspire and provoke.
I don’t look at the work of my contemporaries very much; I tend to look at pictures by dead artists. It’s much easier to get near their paintings. Howard Hodgkin
I once was interviewed and got so exasperated that I said, ‘What do you want, a shopping list?’ They kept asking, ‘What’s in this picture?’ Howard Hodgkin
I think that words are often extraneous to what I do. Howard Hodgkin
The picture surface recedes just as much in the 20th century as it did in the 15th. The techniques of making pictures have hardly changed. Howard Hodgkin
A painting is finished when the subject comes back, when what has caused the painting to be made comes back as an object. Howard Hodgkin
I’m very envious of the few artists who are any good and still do portraits. Howard Hodgkin
I don’t really have a historical overview of my work at all. I’m not an art historian. I don’t see that there’s this period and that period. Howard Hodgkin
I find old copies of National Gallery catalogues, which are written in the dryest possible prose, infinitely soothing. Howard Hodgkin
You keep on balancing and balancing and balancing until the picture wins, because then the subject’s turned into the picture. Howard Hodgkin
In England, it’s thought to be morally suspect to worry about what your surroundings look like. Howard Hodgkin
Matisse was very clear about saying that you have to blow your own trumpet and explain yourself, which I think has been slightly forgotten. Howard Hodgkin
I want my pictures to be things. I want them to be made up of marks that are physically and individually self-sufficient. Howard Hodgkin
My language is what I use, and if I lost that, I wouldn’t be able to say anything. Howard Hodgkin
When I finish a painting, it usually looks as surprising to me as to anyone else. Howard Hodgkin
I am isolated as an artist, not as a person. Howard Hodgkin
I hate painting. Howard Hodgkin
Collecting has been my great extravagance. It’s a way of being. I collect for the same reason that I eat too much-I’m one of nature’s shoppers. Howard Hodgkin
I don’t think you can lightly paint a picture. It’s an activity I take very seriously. Howard Hodgkin
In the United States there has been a kind of a structure in the Modern art world. The New York School was nearly a coherent thing-for a minute. Howard Hodgkin
A collection makes its own demands. Many artists have been collectors. I think of it rather as an illness. I felt it was using up too much energy. Howard Hodgkin
I am happy for people to talk about my pictures, but I wish devoutly that I was not expected to talk about them myself. Howard Hodgkin
I think words come between the spectator and the picture. Howard Hodgkin
I’m vulnerable to criticism. Any artist is, because you work alone in your studio and, until recently, critics were the only way you’d get any feedback. Howard Hodgkin
I fell through a crack for years. Historically, I am a nothing because I fit in no category. I can only be me. Howard Hodgkin
I look at my pictures, and I think, ‘Well, how did I do that?’ Howard Hodgkin
My friends tend to be writers. I think writers and painters are really all the same-we just sit in our rooms. Howard Hodgkin
