A few months back I was in Dunedin, and visited their very good public art gallery. I was thrilled to find an exhibition of works by New Zealander Frances Hodgkins I’d not seen before which were all completed in England. She was in London in 1939 at the start of the war, and for safety reasons I imagine moved to the Dorset countryside. She lived in Corfe Castle village on the south-west peninsula, where she remained until 1945. She was able to move a little between the small villages, and set up a small studio in nearby Croft. Because of the war-time restrictions foisted upon her, she set about documenting the rural life of small villages and communities in her paintings. She was often forced to stay indoors, whether through atrocious weather, or air raids and coastal gunfire. It is testament to the dedication she gave to her art practice that she was able to work under such conditions.

Hodgkins explored various painting techniques throughout her long career, although she was mainly remembered for her paintings of landscapes and still life. In Dorset she tackled what was around her, as is shown in the paintings surrounding Corfe Castle, where she painted barns and buildings, earth-moving machinery and other industrial equipment, related to farming in the area.

The bakery was surrounded by snow at a time when rationing of food was limited. In a letter written to her brother in June 1943, she speaks of a food parcel she’d received from New Zealand. ‘The only really 100% good food I get is what you send…NZ tinned goods are supreme – especially the meat – cheese is a bit mouldy, if post is delayed – but good. American sardines are the latest delicacy – even the cats won’t touch them…’

The example of paintings I have shown above from the Frances Hodgkins Between Croft and Corfe exhibition, are from the Collection of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, New Zealand.

You may like to view a post I wrote on Frances Hodgkins after viewing a great exhibition of her work exhibited by the Auckland Art Gallery in September 2019 titled An artist who followed her dream. You will find more still if you click on this link. https://completefranceshodgkins.com