Hodgkinson's great uncle was the Pre-Raphaelite artist, Sir John Everett Millais.
above image:
Sir John Everett Millais Ophelia 1851-52
oil on canvas 762 x 1118 mm - Collection - Tate Britain, London www.tate.org.uk
Bio
Born in Sydney in 1919 to working class parents of predominantly English Irish background, as with Georges Braque, Hodgkinson’s father was a sign writer and Hodgkinson from a small boy wanted to be an artist. Choosing not to go to university when finishing school and follow instead his desire to paint, much to his fathers disappointment, he choose to undertake a lithographers apprenticeship.
Hodgkinson desired as did most of his contemporaries to delve into the world of art that existed beyond the limited scene in Australia. Lack of financial resources were a great frustration, however, he was gifted with not only a profound and natural artistic ability but also an instinctual intelligence and an enquiring mind. Hodgkinson moved into the world of commercial art and graphic design, a necessity financially for most artists during the unstable pre war and depression period. Hodgkinson was among friends, many of Australia’s best know artists were working in the field of commercial art and design including among others Lloyd Rees, John Passmore and Kevin Conner.
Whilst working in commercial art Hodgkinson studied at night at the Royal Art Society School under the direction of Dattilo Rubbo and Sydney Long. Dattilo Rubbo established a school of his own in Bligh Street Sydney and it was here that Hodgkinson then dedicated his evenings to his development as an artist and met and befriended fellow students Donald Friend and Wallace Thornton.
During WWII he served in North Africa with the Australian Imperial Forces. He campaigned against the Vichy French in Syria and on the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea, where he was mentioned in dispatches for conspicuous gallantry. Later as an official war artist he recorded the landings in Borneo. Although Hodgkinson was proud to be of service to his country he remained at heart a man of peace, in fact his memorial stone at his home in Kenthurst reads “Soldier, Artist, Author, Pacifist” Immediately post war he studied at l‘Academe de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris and with Bernard Menisky at the Central Art School, London. Between 1947 and 1953 he lived and worked in Paris, Florence, Madrid, Barcelona and London. He was twice hung ‘on the line’ at the Royal Academy of Art in London where his great uncle Sir John Everatt Millais (one of the founders and best known of the Pre-Raphaelite painters) had been director. It was during this period that Hodgkinson’s work really began to develop towards abstraction.
1955 back in his homeland, Hodgkinson’s first solo exhibitions were at the Macquarie Galleries and at the Peter Gray Gallery in Melbourne, both were sellout success’s. In 1958 Hodgkinson was awarded the inaugural Helene Rubenstein Travelling Scholarship. Returning to Europe he spent the majority of his time working and living in Spain. A country he always felt an affinity for perhaps due to his Basque spanish blood from his mothers family.
Hodgkinson became part of a small commune of Australian artists, other members included John Olsen, Paul Haefliger and Jean Bellette. These few, far from home, became established in Mallorca. Hodgkinson was drawn to its light, landscape and simplicity of lifestyle, he was fascinated by the Spanish culture and deeply influenced by the work of poet Federico García Lorca. Brett Whitely was not far from this band of Australian brothers painting and living in Sigean in France very close to the Spanish boarder, he visited Mallorca often to paint and cross pollinate ideas.
The Spanish artists were distinct in their style from those working in other parts of Europe and in some ways Hodgkinson’s works related yet it stood apart with a unique quality inately Australian. Hodgkinson was included as part of the official Spanish government travelling exhibitions, a great honor for an artist not native to the land, he was exhibited throughout Europe and in the United States along with the best contemporary Spanish artists.
Throughout these years abroad Hodgkinson experienced many accolades. He had a solo critically acclaimed and sell out show at Drian Gallery in London. In 1961 and ‘62 he was selected to hang at the spring and autumn exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris. He also lived for the better part of a year in the US and was given solo shows at the Collectors gallery in New York and at the Primus Stuart galleries in Los Angeles both of
which were well received.
Returning to Australia once more Hodgkinson’s first major exhibition was at the newly established Hungry Horse Gallery and the work was extremely well received by critics and public alike. Robert Hughes wrote “ To pass through one of his paintings is like traversing a section of the earths crust. His big totemic forms seem to have gone through cataclysms. He does not woo his image, he attacks it. And much of it’s power comes from the sullen resistance of the material it is made from.” Hughes also said of Hodginkson’s work that “ he permits layers of the past to stake their disruptive claims on the present. In fact, the drama of Hodgkinson’s work is the drama of matter disclosing it’s own history.” Hodgkinson was understandably flattered by the critics understanding and appreciation for the work. Of the works exhibited at the Hungry Horse Gallery in 1963, The Art Gallery of NSW bought a triptych titled The night is a Tree of Pain for 800 guineas, at the time that was the highest price ever paid in Australia for a work of abstract art.
In 1971 the call of the landscape, the power and spirit of Australia’s primeval mystery that were so vital to his development, both as a man and as an artist, brought him back to Australia, this time to establish more permanently. Hodgkinson was living in Victoria at Clifton Pugh’s property, a place where many contemporary artists converged, submerging themselves in communal living and creative expression in a variety of forms. Pugh’s property Dunmoochin north of Melbourne is where Hodgkinson met his third wife, Kate. Kate would become a muse, a lover, a friend, the support he so needed to continue to wrestle with the creative process.
Hodgkinson desired as did most of his contemporaries to delve into the world of art that existed beyond the limited scene in Australia. Lack of financial resources were a great frustration, however, he was gifted with not only a profound and natural artistic ability but also an instinctual intelligence and an enquiring mind. Hodgkinson moved into the world of commercial art and graphic design, a necessity financially for most artists during the unstable pre war and depression period. Hodgkinson was among friends, many of Australia’s best know artists were working in the field of commercial art and design including among others Lloyd Rees, John Passmore and Kevin Conner.
Whilst working in commercial art Hodgkinson studied at night at the Royal Art Society School under the direction of Dattilo Rubbo and Sydney Long. Dattilo Rubbo established a school of his own in Bligh Street Sydney and it was here that Hodgkinson then dedicated his evenings to his development as an artist and met and befriended fellow students Donald Friend and Wallace Thornton.
During WWII he served in North Africa with the Australian Imperial Forces. He campaigned against the Vichy French in Syria and on the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea, where he was mentioned in dispatches for conspicuous gallantry. Later as an official war artist he recorded the landings in Borneo. Although Hodgkinson was proud to be of service to his country he remained at heart a man of peace, in fact his memorial stone at his home in Kenthurst reads “Soldier, Artist, Author, Pacifist” Immediately post war he studied at l‘Academe de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris and with Bernard Menisky at the Central Art School, London. Between 1947 and 1953 he lived and worked in Paris, Florence, Madrid, Barcelona and London. He was twice hung ‘on the line’ at the Royal Academy of Art in London where his great uncle Sir John Everatt Millais (one of the founders and best known of the Pre-Raphaelite painters) had been director. It was during this period that Hodgkinson’s work really began to develop towards abstraction.
1955 back in his homeland, Hodgkinson’s first solo exhibitions were at the Macquarie Galleries and at the Peter Gray Gallery in Melbourne, both were sellout success’s. In 1958 Hodgkinson was awarded the inaugural Helene Rubenstein Travelling Scholarship. Returning to Europe he spent the majority of his time working and living in Spain. A country he always felt an affinity for perhaps due to his Basque spanish blood from his mothers family.
Hodgkinson became part of a small commune of Australian artists, other members included John Olsen, Paul Haefliger and Jean Bellette. These few, far from home, became established in Mallorca. Hodgkinson was drawn to its light, landscape and simplicity of lifestyle, he was fascinated by the Spanish culture and deeply influenced by the work of poet Federico García Lorca. Brett Whitely was not far from this band of Australian brothers painting and living in Sigean in France very close to the Spanish boarder, he visited Mallorca often to paint and cross pollinate ideas.
The Spanish artists were distinct in their style from those working in other parts of Europe and in some ways Hodgkinson’s works related yet it stood apart with a unique quality inately Australian. Hodgkinson was included as part of the official Spanish government travelling exhibitions, a great honor for an artist not native to the land, he was exhibited throughout Europe and in the United States along with the best contemporary Spanish artists.
Throughout these years abroad Hodgkinson experienced many accolades. He had a solo critically acclaimed and sell out show at Drian Gallery in London. In 1961 and ‘62 he was selected to hang at the spring and autumn exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris. He also lived for the better part of a year in the US and was given solo shows at the Collectors gallery in New York and at the Primus Stuart galleries in Los Angeles both of
which were well received.
Returning to Australia once more Hodgkinson’s first major exhibition was at the newly established Hungry Horse Gallery and the work was extremely well received by critics and public alike. Robert Hughes wrote “ To pass through one of his paintings is like traversing a section of the earths crust. His big totemic forms seem to have gone through cataclysms. He does not woo his image, he attacks it. And much of it’s power comes from the sullen resistance of the material it is made from.” Hughes also said of Hodginkson’s work that “ he permits layers of the past to stake their disruptive claims on the present. In fact, the drama of Hodgkinson’s work is the drama of matter disclosing it’s own history.” Hodgkinson was understandably flattered by the critics understanding and appreciation for the work. Of the works exhibited at the Hungry Horse Gallery in 1963, The Art Gallery of NSW bought a triptych titled The night is a Tree of Pain for 800 guineas, at the time that was the highest price ever paid in Australia for a work of abstract art.
In 1971 the call of the landscape, the power and spirit of Australia’s primeval mystery that were so vital to his development, both as a man and as an artist, brought him back to Australia, this time to establish more permanently. Hodgkinson was living in Victoria at Clifton Pugh’s property, a place where many contemporary artists converged, submerging themselves in communal living and creative expression in a variety of forms. Pugh’s property Dunmoochin north of Melbourne is where Hodgkinson met his third wife, Kate. Kate would become a muse, a lover, a friend, the support he so needed to continue to wrestle with the creative process.
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The couple travelled extensively within Australia before deciding to settle and build a house and studio in the Hawksbury River sandstone country where he lived and worked until his death in 2001. The property was named ‘Geebung’ after the trees that grew in the area. Hodgkinson had a deep interest in people, culture and history. A trip to the Australian Museum in 1938 sparked a lifelong attraction to tribal art and Primitivism as a movement. His facination grew with a trip taken to the interior of Australia where he experienced within the land that impenetrable sence of of mystery. A visit to the cave paintings of Lascaux and Altamira futher captivated his imagination. He and Kate collected artifacts from many cultures, a passion they shared equally. For Frank the collection was a source of inspiration.
Hodgkinson’s curiosity with Aboriginal art and culture called him to the Northern Territory for long periods of time throughout the 1980’s. Arnhemland was a place he spent more time working than any non indigenous artist before him. Spending months on end each year living and breathing the country, letting it transform his spirit or perhaps awaken it. For seven years Hodgkinson was drawn to return over and over again to this untamed land. Artists joined the group including Clifton Pugh, Tim Storrier and John Firth Smith, the a camps were formalised and titled ‘The Northern Territory Museums Artist Camps’.It has been suggested, Hodgkinson’s Spanish Basque mother had Aboriginal hertitage as well, perhaps again the pull was instinctual, unavaoidable, as it was to Spain, whatever it was this place was paramount in his life. Hodgkinson wrote of the land ‘like the sky this landscapse has no boundaries. And things in it, not previously seen, are familiar, like images long forgotton’ Hodgkinson was of course refering to the collective unconsious, the archtypeal patterns we all carry within, past the chatter of the ego to the root of all things, the spark of creation exists, manifestation begins in this place.
Hodgkinson continued to travel extensively throughout the remainder of his life and much inspiration was gained from his travels. He was however now firmly rooted in Australia, the longest continuous time spent aboard was a year in Papua New Guinea whilst artist in residence at Port Moresby University. Hodgkinson’s last trip, was to Russia with wife Kate in 2000, a place that had captured his imagination and intrigued him with its whimsical mystical architecture. Unfortunately Hodgkinson was unable to paint on this adventure due to poor health, it seems fitting that his last major body of work was based on Australian subject matter, the Bungle Bungles.
He stopped painting only months before his death in 2001, at age 82. In 2000 Hodgkinson was awarded with an Australia Medal, a great honor which he down played, secretly chuffed to receive, he was recognised for his contribution to the arts. Hodgkinson was the author of three books ‘Kakadu and the Arnhen Landers’ ‘Paris Sketchbook’ and ‘Sepik Diary’. The monograph ‘Hodgkinson’ was published by Beagle Press (Barry Pearce and Lou Klepac). Posthumously Kate and Zoe Hodgkinson published a book compiled from his sketchbooks which outlines Hodgkinson’s views of the creative process ‘Penseri’. “Frank Hodgkinson is a prodigy. He is a man so various that he hardly gives you time to focus on any single one talent. He is a painter, a sculptor, an architect, a designer of habitats and ambiences. His creative energy is enormous. His curiosity is at once that of a child and a mature philosopher trying to make sense of the cosmos over which he has ranged with hunger and delight” Morris West. Hodgkinson’s headstone reads ‘I am made of all that I have seen’ a phrase found written in one of his many sketchbooks, it seems to sum up the essence of what it ment to be an artist, a creator, a human being.
Hodgkinson’s curiosity with Aboriginal art and culture called him to the Northern Territory for long periods of time throughout the 1980’s. Arnhemland was a place he spent more time working than any non indigenous artist before him. Spending months on end each year living and breathing the country, letting it transform his spirit or perhaps awaken it. For seven years Hodgkinson was drawn to return over and over again to this untamed land. Artists joined the group including Clifton Pugh, Tim Storrier and John Firth Smith, the a camps were formalised and titled ‘The Northern Territory Museums Artist Camps’.It has been suggested, Hodgkinson’s Spanish Basque mother had Aboriginal hertitage as well, perhaps again the pull was instinctual, unavaoidable, as it was to Spain, whatever it was this place was paramount in his life. Hodgkinson wrote of the land ‘like the sky this landscapse has no boundaries. And things in it, not previously seen, are familiar, like images long forgotton’ Hodgkinson was of course refering to the collective unconsious, the archtypeal patterns we all carry within, past the chatter of the ego to the root of all things, the spark of creation exists, manifestation begins in this place.
Hodgkinson continued to travel extensively throughout the remainder of his life and much inspiration was gained from his travels. He was however now firmly rooted in Australia, the longest continuous time spent aboard was a year in Papua New Guinea whilst artist in residence at Port Moresby University. Hodgkinson’s last trip, was to Russia with wife Kate in 2000, a place that had captured his imagination and intrigued him with its whimsical mystical architecture. Unfortunately Hodgkinson was unable to paint on this adventure due to poor health, it seems fitting that his last major body of work was based on Australian subject matter, the Bungle Bungles.
He stopped painting only months before his death in 2001, at age 82. In 2000 Hodgkinson was awarded with an Australia Medal, a great honor which he down played, secretly chuffed to receive, he was recognised for his contribution to the arts. Hodgkinson was the author of three books ‘Kakadu and the Arnhen Landers’ ‘Paris Sketchbook’ and ‘Sepik Diary’. The monograph ‘Hodgkinson’ was published by Beagle Press (Barry Pearce and Lou Klepac). Posthumously Kate and Zoe Hodgkinson published a book compiled from his sketchbooks which outlines Hodgkinson’s views of the creative process ‘Penseri’. “Frank Hodgkinson is a prodigy. He is a man so various that he hardly gives you time to focus on any single one talent. He is a painter, a sculptor, an architect, a designer of habitats and ambiences. His creative energy is enormous. His curiosity is at once that of a child and a mature philosopher trying to make sense of the cosmos over which he has ranged with hunger and delight” Morris West. Hodgkinson’s headstone reads ‘I am made of all that I have seen’ a phrase found written in one of his many sketchbooks, it seems to sum up the essence of what it ment to be an artist, a creator, a human being.
