As Time Goes By (red)

Although Howard Hodgkin was a Turner Prize winner in 1985 and was knighted in 1992, he never felt his painting and printmaking were properly understood in his native England; attractive work with luscious colors could not be taken seriously there.

In both mediums, paradox and ambiguity are paramount. Although the production of a print took up a lot of time, the result needed to appear effortless. Indeed, one never feels the agony of the printmaking process in Hodgkin’s work. With the hand application of paint and framing devices, his prints are actually on the edge of being paintings. He loved the impersonal quality of the hand-painted marks that he applied to his prints from 1986 onwards.

As Time Goes By is the largest and most monumental set of prints Hodgkin ever made—possibly the largest intaglio prints ever undertaken. Preparing the plates was a tour de force for the 77-year-old artist. Feeling the chariot of time was creeping up on him, Hodgkin’s sense of urgency increased, which may have been one of the reasons for the megalomanic nature of the undertaking.

Hodgkin was reluctant to disclose the meaning of a work. He insisted that each print, seemingly abstract, was firmly rooted in reality. These etchings carry a quote from a literal source: “As Time Goes By,” from the film Casablanca (1942), a song about the eternal aspect of love in this ephemeral world. We will never know whether the title was planned or whether it was the afterthought of his partner, Antony Peattie. The prints allude to the lyrics but do not illustrate them.

Only when standing close to the prints, which were made with five successive layers, does one note their complexity. Jack Shirreff and Andrew Smith of the 107 Workshop had all the sheets of heavy paper laid out on the floor and applied the borders first, using special brushes. When the paper had absorbed the many liters of paint, they started the actual printing process. The surface displays an intricate interplay between painted and printed parts, with the carborundum embossing creating depth. The blobs are seemingly spontaneous, yet were actually carefully planned in relation to the plates. A medley of bold blotches and striations, the work looks decorative at first sight, but breathes an eternal freshness, reconciling the extremes of vibrant color with harmony.

It was the artist’s wish to have the two five-panel prints displayed in the gallery without glazing. The monumental prints seem to float freely in space; the viewer is able to make an immediate connection without the hindrance of a Perspex layer. As Time Goes By is a celebration of life and love, made by an artist who singlehandedly redefined the practice of English printmaking and stubbornly paved the path for more exuberance within it. He has enriched our world by inventing his own visual language based on an exquisite sense of color, which carries emotion and expresses joie de vivre.

Text by Liesbeth Heenk, adapted from Seeing Differently: The Phillips Collects for a New Century (The Phillips Collection in association with Giles, 2021)