Bold in his use of colour, Hodgkin’s lavish application of paint in this work evokes the wild and expressionist colour palette of the Fauves artists of early twentieth century France. Similar to Henri Matisse and André Derain, who both prioritised the painterly qualities of their work through the use of strong and rich colours, Hodgkin employs a variety of different hues to invoke a sense of abstraction that focuses the eye solely on the perceptive power of colour. This colouristic abstraction allowed Howard Hodgkin’s style to thrive during a time in which Pop and Conceptual Art were the established norm. Through fusing diverse precedent with his own immutable artistic voice, he creates an œuvre based on immovable tenets of vitality, vivacity and vividness, which is beautifully demonstrated by the present work.

Hodgkin’s pictures have suggestive titles and are created with people, places, and situations in mind, although they are never illusory. Designed to be objects in their own right, they allude to specific subject matter without trying to recreate it. For this reason the artist frequently uses old wooden frames as a ground and, as in the case of the present work, purposefully extends the brushstrokes over the edges. It stops the viewer from using the frame as a perspectival window, trying to glimpse into an imagined world beyond. As a result, Hodgkin’s pictures are flat panels to be considered at a surface level on the merit of their own appearance. As explained by the artist: “I am a representational painter, but not a painter of appearances. I paint representational pictures of emotional situations.” (Howard Hodgkin quoted in Marla Price, Howard Hodgkin: The Complete Paintings Catalogue Raisonné, London, 2006, p. 14). The highly individualistic approach is only further amplified with the unusual format of this particular panel, intended to question the preconceived idea of what a still life captures and represents.