Biography

Although born in Dunedin, New Zealand, Hodgkins is regarded as a leading figure in 20th-century British Modernism. After studying at Dunedin School of Art from 1895-8, she travelled to Europe in 1901. This was an exciting period in the development of art, with new theories and movements emerging at an astonishing pace. Hodgkins worked in Paris for several years but due to various factors, including the two World Wars, she spent a great deal of time in England and worked alongside Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson in St. Ives. Hodgkins developed a deeply personal style that, whilst showing a clear debt to Fauvism and Cubism, combined daring colours and arbitrary juxtapositions of objects and backgrounds, creating often ambiguous compositions.