An artist’s treasure
With the auction Howard Hodgkin: Portrait of the Artist, Sotheby’s not only unveils the private collection of the late painter and collector Howard Hodgkin, but it also reveals how some of these masterpieces influenced his creations
Howard Hodgkin, one of the most admired post-world war artists from the UK, had the ability to make colour sing from the canvas. Through rapturous, pigment-loaded strokes he could make a beholder feel the sheer pleasure of being alive. His works were interpreted by many as being abstract, but in reality, Hodgkin created a unique pictorial language about people and places he interacted with. The artist’s eye for the exceptional had reverberated through his own paintings, but it had also lent itself to identifying extraordinary works of art in the most unexpected places.
While much has been written about Hodgkin’s collection of Indian miniatures, which was exhibited internationally, it is the kaleidoscope of 400 objects in his private collection that served a more intimate purpose. Revealed after he passed away in
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His penchant for colour is evident in the carpets he acquired. In fact, he was particularly drawn to fragments for their colour and texture. The jewel here is the 17th-century fragment that belonged to the legendary Robert von Hirsch (estimated between £80,000 and £150,000). His broad-ranging fabric collection also includes several European tapestries, like the glorious 16th-century French “grotesque” medallion (estimated between £80,000 and £120,000). He was also fascinated with recurring motifs, works that included elephants and palm trees, collages, inlaid items and surface patterns like mosaic, pietra dura, cosmati, marquetry and more. They inspired his banyan tree mural for the British Council, New