Howard Hodgkin

Although he lived most of his life in London, Howard Hodgkin was inspired by visits to other countries, notably India (where he maintained a studio for a time) and the United States (where he lived as young evacuee from World War II). Among the works in Marsha Mateyka Gallery’s “The Early Prints” are ones that depict, with semiabstract verve, a Tulsa living room, David Hockney’s L.A. pool and views from Indian train windows.

Hodgkin, who died in March at 84, first exhibited his art in 1952. The prints in this array date from 1976-86. So what makes them “early”? It wasn’t until 1977 that Hodgkin developed his trademark style, in which etchings and lithographs were hand-colored by printers following the artist’s sometimes experimental instructions. The results include this show’s version of “David’s Pool”, whose blue is all fountain-pen ink.

In both paintings and prints, Hodgkin accentuated the frame. His rectangular compositions often depict rectangular spaces, or gaze through rectangular portals. Yet they’re not rigidly geometric. Details of the physical world are distilled into fluid gestures: Trees are fields of green dots, and a window shutter is a series of magenta streaks inside a blue box.

The models for Hodgkin’s images aren’t always apparent, and vivid hues aren’t essential. Two of the most striking prints are black-and-white and essentially abstract: “Mourning,” made after a red-and-green version of the same picture, and the exquisitely layered “Souvenir.” The latter overlaps layers printed in shades of black and gray; the former highlights a swoop of gray gouache. That arc was hand-painted, but Hodgkin’s assured style was painterly even when its strokes were applied by a press.