The Spanish Well, Purbeck
Date
1945
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Object Detail
Catalogue number
FH1244
Date
1945
Brief Description
Her last oil painting, Hodgkins worked on Spanish well, Purbeck over a number of months. The work refers to the blackout, yet the darkness is filled with traces of colour and the memory of light. As the conflict of war came to an end, the artist felt an uplifting of spirits, writing:
My Muse has returned to me – I found her waiting for me on the doorstep faithful wench, which goes to show how futile it is to travel over mountains in search of material when it lies at your own pavement, for the seeing. (Frances Hodgkins - Leitmotif, 2005)
My Muse has returned to me – I found her waiting for me on the doorstep faithful wench, which goes to show how futile it is to travel over mountains in search of material when it lies at your own pavement, for the seeing. (Frances Hodgkins - Leitmotif, 2005)
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
860 x 835 x 55 mm
Inscription
Signed and dated lower right: Frances Hodgkins 1945
Collection
Institutional number
1959/14/1
Credit line
Auckland
Art
Gallery
Toi
o
Tāmaki,
bequest
of
Mr
P
D
Hodgkins,
1959
Subject place
Provenance
Bequeathed to the Auckland City Art Gallery (now Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki) by Percy Hodgkins, 1959.
Exhibition history
References
Arthur Howell, Frances Hodgkins: Four Vital Years, Rockliff, London, 1951| p. 123
Iain Buchanan, Michael Dunn, Elizabeth Eastmond, Frances Hodgkins: Paintings and Drawings, Auckland University Press, Auckland, 1994| p. 167 (colour ill.)
Kate Gallagher, Frances Hodgkins: A Modernist Eye, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Auckland, 2001| colour ill. 6
Joanne Drayton, Frances Hodgkins: A Private Viewing, Godwit, Auckland, 2005| p. 270 (colour ill.)
Catherine Hammond, Mary Kisler, Frances Hodgkins: European Journeys, Auckland University Press, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Auckland, 2019| p. [192] (colour ill. 8.20)
Iain Buchanan, Michael Dunn, Elizabeth Eastmond, Frances Hodgkins: Paintings and Drawings, Auckland University Press, Auckland, 1994| p. 167 (colour ill.)
Kate Gallagher, Frances Hodgkins: A Modernist Eye, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Auckland, 2001| colour ill. 6
Joanne Drayton, Frances Hodgkins: A Private Viewing, Godwit, Auckland, 2005| p. 270 (colour ill.)
Catherine Hammond, Mary Kisler, Frances Hodgkins: European Journeys, Auckland University Press, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Auckland, 2019| p. [192] (colour ill. 8.20)