Private Collection, Ontario
Private Collection, Toronto
Exhibited
“Seventh Annual Exhibition”, Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton, December 2, 1955 - January 1, 1956, no. 32
Literature
David G. Taylor, “Tom Hodgson: An Exhibition Organized by The Lynnwood Arts Centre”, Simcoe, Ontario, 1988, “Non Objective (Bluish)” listed page 53
Iris Nowell, “Painters Eleven: The Wild Ones of Canadian Art”, Vancouver/ Toronto, 2010, pages 5-7
As a member of the abstract artists’ collective Painters Eleven, Tom Hodgson’s bold abstract works helped change and shape the mid- century landscape of painting within Canada. Often favouring bright, contrasting colour palettes which emphasized the spirit and movement of form and medium, Hodgson experimented with various artistic styles throughout his career, while maintaining his signature energetic technique.
The artist’s early period of abstraction between 1947 and 1964 was particularly transformative. As he gradually moved away from figuration, Hodgson used his own altered photographs of still lifes as inspiration for compositional elements of abstract works. Bold colours and thick black outlines typify this period, with references to the work of International artists like Picasso, Miro and Kandinsky, as well as fellow Painters Eleven member Oscar Cahén. The Toronto artists who formed Painters Eleven in 1953 were interested in bringing completely non-representational painting to Ontario, and “Non Objective (Bluish)”, as suggested by its title, succeeds at this goal. Hodgson’s oil painting provides a complex abstract composition that simultaneously balances line and volume, geometric and organic forms, as well as subtle and bold colours.
“Non Objective (Bluish)” was first exhibited in 1955, while Hodgson was training with the Canadian Olympic paddling team. The artist competed in both the 1952 and 1956 Olympic Games, concurrent to the peak of the Painters Eleven group. Hodgson remarkably balanced two completely separate and impressive talents at the same time. Later in 1956, he accepted a teaching position for the Artists’ Workshop in Toronto.
