WAKEFIELD.- The Hepworth Wakefield presents the first comprehensive exhibition to explore the enduring influence of India on Hodgkin’s work, a place he returned to almost annually, since his first trip to the country in 1964.

Approximately 35 works from the last 50 years are being exhibited, from Hodgkin’s earliest Indiainspired paintings of the 1960s through to new work completed in India earlier this year, before his death in March.

Howard Hodgkin (1932-2017) is widely regarded as one of the world’s greatest painters and has been a central figure in contemporary art for over half a century.

Following a visit to The Hepworth Wakefield in 2016, Howard Hodgkin, said: “I fell in love with Indian art when I was at school, thanks to the enterprising art master, Wilfrid Blunt. I longed to visit India, but only managed to do so in my early thirties. It proved a revelation. It changed my way of thinking and, probably, the way I paint. I am excited by the idea of this exhibition and delighted it will take place in David Chipperfield's remarkable building, The Hepworth Wakefield, where I greatly enjoyed the show of paintings by Stanley Spencer.”

Simon Wallis OBE, Director of The Hepworth Wakefield said: “It has been a huge privilege for us to have worked so closely with Howard in preparation for this extensive exhibition. His death is a great loss to us all. We are proud to be realising an exhibition about the influence of India on his work, a place that he was so passionate about, and from which he drew such inspiration throughout his life. It’ll be a perfect summer exhibition in our beautiful gallery spaces with all the colour and warmth of a country that Howard developed such a close relationship to.”

Showing work made over this expansive time period offers an insight into Hodgkin’s relationship to India while also revealing the evolution of his pictorial language - from the figurative work of the 1960s through to the dynamic, gestural style of recent years. As a painter of memories and experiences, many of the works capture the artist’s sensory impressions of India, from fierce blazing sunsets to heavy oppressive rains, landscapes and cities he has visited, and portraits of the people he has befriended.

Rarely seen photographs and documents from Hodgkin’s personal archive are being featured in an introductory section of the exhibition. This includes material relating to his 1992 British Council commission in New Delhi with the architect Charles Correa, as well as journals kept by the artist documenting his journeys in India, displayed publicly for the first time. These are presented alongside a small number of works from the artist’s personal collection of Indian art, which first led him to visit the country and provoked his enduring love affair with the place and its people.

The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue published by Lund Humphries, with contributions from Shanay Jhavery, Associate Curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Geeta Kapur, noted critic and art historian, among others.