As Time Goes By (blue)
As Time Goes By (blue)
Signed Print
Howard Hodgkin
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244 x 610cm, Edition of 7, Aquatint
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Meaning & Analysis
This signed aquatint print from 2009 is a limited edition of 7 from Howard Hodgkin’s As Time Goes By series. The work is composed of five different sheets of paper, joined together through a wooden structure, and presents to the viewer an abstract emotional landscape, typical of Hodgkin’s production, framed by hand-painted blue contours and dotted by red and navy splashes of colour.
As Time Goes By (blue) is not only the largest work on paper that Hodgkin produced but also amongst the most monumental pieces to ever be produced with printmaking techniques, measuring more than six meters in length. Hodgkin made each panel using a combination of aquatint, paint, and carborundum embossing, which gives the work a tactile and expressionist feel that aptly conveys the emotional intensity of Hodgkin’s paint strokes. To produce the work, Hodgkin combined mechanical reproduction, through the use of five different coloured etched plates, and artisanship, personally painting the blue frame of the work. The title, drawn from the famous 1942 movie Casablanca and with no seeming direct relation to the work, continues to fascinate art historians and collectors alike and adds complexity and ambiguity to this fascinating piece. The print was exhibited for the first time at Cristea Roberts Gallery in 2009 but has ever since left its mark on the mind of any Hodgkin collector as a seminal work in the artist’s career.
British artist Howard Hodgkin was a luminary of abstraction. Representing Britain at the 1984 Venice Biennale, winning the Turner Prize in 1985, and knighted in 1992, Hodgkin established a legacy by pushing the boundaries of convention. Indian culture and painting heavily influenced the artist's work, infiltrating it most obviously in his bold colour choices. Evoking the bliss of exotic travels and past memories, Hodgkin's abstract representations provide an intimate insight into his world. The vibrancy of his palette and expression of the brushstrokes distinguished the artist from his contemporaries, seeing him gain international recognition.
