Here We are in Croydon 1979

Howard Hodgkin made "Here We Are In Croydon" with paint, layering colors and gestures like memories on top of each other. The red border feels raw, almost like exposed emotion, thick with the kind of brushstrokes that don't try to hide themselves. I like how the darker areas in the middle aren't just black; there’s a deep, mossy green fighting its way through, creating this tension, this sense of something lurking beneath the surface. And then, that slash of red, like a sudden thought or a flash of anger. It's all so immediate, so present. You can almost feel Hodgkin's hand moving across the surface, making decisions, changing his mind. This piece reminds me of some of Pierre Bonnard's paintings, the way he uses color to evoke a mood or a memory rather than just describe a scene. Both artists teach us that painting isn't about capturing reality, but about creating a space for feeling.