Frances Hodgkins

Life & Legacy

Frances Mary Hodgkins (28 April 1869 – 13 May 1947) was a New Zealand painter chiefly of landscape, and for a short period was a designer of textiles. Born in Dunedin, she was educated at Dunedin School of Art, then became an art teacher, earning money to study in England.
A modernist artist, Hodgkins' artworks were known for abstracted, simplified forms and a strong emphasis on colour values and relationships. Hodgkins was considered to be a key figure in British Modernism, also considered one of New Zealand's most prestigious and influential painters. However, it is the work from Hodgkins' life in Europe, rather than her home country, on which her reputation rests.