Tom Hodgson
TOM HODGSON "BELL BUOY" 1953
Tom Hodgson (1924–2006) was one of the members of Painters 11, the legendary group of Toronto-based artists that helped advance and disseminate abstraction in English Canada.
Hodgson first studied at (what is now known as) the Ontario College of Art & Design, but began his career as a commercial artist. Like many of his peers, he soon found himself desiring a more adventurous and free method of art and self-expression. In the early 1950s, Hodgson joined artists such as William Ronald, Ray Mead, Harold Town, Alexandra Luke, amongst others to form Painters 11. Together, these prolific painters introduced the Canadian public to abstract expressionism and greatly influenced the succeeding generations of Canadian artists.
Hodgson was known as an action painter, particularly during the ’50s and ’60s, when groundbreaking American artists like Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and Franz Kline were popularizing the method. Locally, Oscar Cahén was a big mentor on Hodgson, until his untimely death only a short time after the founding of Painters 11. After Cahén’s passing, Hodgson paid homage to Cahén throughout his career, often in his color palettes.
In this painting, broad, gestural strokes of rose, mauve, charcoal, blue and ochre are entwined in an intricate web of forms that seem to shift between solidity and transparency. The composition evokes the sensation of movement through water, with forms appearing to surge, overlap and dissolve into one another. The exposed passages of ground heighten this sense of spatial instability, while the darker, emphatic strokes give the painting a muscular physicality. Hodgson’s interest in action is registered not only in the imagery, but in the very manner of its making: the painting records the movement of the artist’s body as he worked, transforming gesture into an energetic vision of the Canadian landscape.
While Hodgson was dedicated to art making, he was also an accomplished athlete. He was a national sprint canoe champion and represented Canada at the Olympics in Helsinki (1952) and Melbourne (1956). One could say that some of Hodgson's painting techniques and motifs derive from his strength as a champion paddler and his experience in the water.
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"Bell Buoy"
Canada, 1953
Oil on panel
47”W 33”H (work visible)
49”W 35”H (framed)
Very good condition
Note: the price is $30,000 CAD
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