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Lot Essay
Robert Hodgins is one of South Africa’s most distinguished artists. Despite exhibiting regularly in the 1950s, he originally forged a career as a journalist and an art critic, only becoming a full-time artist in 1983. By the mid-1980s he had cemented his reputation as a leading and visionary painter as well as exerting influence within South Africa’s key artistic circles, most notably through his collaborations with Deborah Bell and William Kentridge across print and film.
For many years his Johannesburg studio became a locus or even shrine for artists to come and discuss painting and philosophy. Stylistically, Hodgins deploys saturated hues and vibrant colours with glorious confidence: his compositions are often sinister, humorous and poetic, oblique yet familiar. He frequently resurfaces characters from a revolving cast, including butlers, playboys, generals, businessmen and prostitutes.
In Father and Son; Takeover Time, we see presumably a father and son as they sit, seemingly ill-prepared to spring into action, and worlds apart. Its title masterfully alludes to the host of grand themes at play in the work, ranging from mortality, succession and legacy to meaninglessness, folly and alienation. In his later life, Hodgins became increasingly preoccupied with the theme of powerful figures handing over the reins and passing the baton over to the next generation, not always without incident.
Born in London in 1920, Hodgins moved to South Africa in 1938. He served in the military throughout the war and returned to South Africa in 1954. He was the subject of a retrospective at the Wits Art Museum in Johannesburg in 2019, also receiving the honorary degree Doctor of Literature. His work is held in numerous public and private collections including the MTN Collection, as well as the South Africa National Gallery, and the Pretoria Art Museum.
For many years his Johannesburg studio became a locus or even shrine for artists to come and discuss painting and philosophy. Stylistically, Hodgins deploys saturated hues and vibrant colours with glorious confidence: his compositions are often sinister, humorous and poetic, oblique yet familiar. He frequently resurfaces characters from a revolving cast, including butlers, playboys, generals, businessmen and prostitutes.
In Father and Son; Takeover Time, we see presumably a father and son as they sit, seemingly ill-prepared to spring into action, and worlds apart. Its title masterfully alludes to the host of grand themes at play in the work, ranging from mortality, succession and legacy to meaninglessness, folly and alienation. In his later life, Hodgins became increasingly preoccupied with the theme of powerful figures handing over the reins and passing the baton over to the next generation, not always without incident.
Born in London in 1920, Hodgins moved to South Africa in 1938. He served in the military throughout the war and returned to South Africa in 1954. He was the subject of a retrospective at the Wits Art Museum in Johannesburg in 2019, also receiving the honorary degree Doctor of Literature. His work is held in numerous public and private collections including the MTN Collection, as well as the South Africa National Gallery, and the Pretoria Art Museum.