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Lot Essay
‘If anybody remembers me in a hundred years time, it will be because Howard has twice painted me; these images will certainly outlive any other evidence of my existence. What happy immortality.’ (Paul Levy, 'Home on the Range with Hodgkin', 8 July 2010)
As a food critic, writer, columnist and successful author, Paul Levy has paved the way for new modern British cooking, introducing the nouvelle cuisine chefs of France to Britain, which in turn has changed the eating habits of the country. Levy came to prominence in 1980 when he wrote the first non-recipe column on food to be published in the United Kingdom to critical acclaim and by his third he had won every British prize for food journalism. Since then he has worked at the Observer, as Food and Wine Editor, The Mail on Sunday, edited Lytton Strachey: The Really Interesting Question and has published a number of books including Out to Lunch and the best-selling Official Foodie Handbook, whilst also consulting for leading supermarket chains, restaurants and chefs such as Raymond Blanc and broadcasting on Channel 4. Levy’s interests are not limited to food and literature but encapsulate all the arts, with a special focus on fine art. For a decade he wrote a weekly column on the arts for The Wall Street Journal and remains a regular contributor to the ‘Personal Pages’ where he discusses his love of art. Levy also keeps his blog Art Journal/plain English where he reviews exhibitions and discusses the relationships he had with leading Modern British artists.
One of his most valued friendships was that with Howard Hodgkin, who painted his portrait on two occasions, one in 1976-80 and the other seen in the present lot, A Bust of Paul Levy in 1976-77. Like his other paintings there is an individual subject at the heart of his work, in this case Paul Levy, but any anatomical accuracy has been replaced by an abstracted and purely sensory approach to the sitter. Paul Levy has now been reduced to a smear of pink paint, his facial features removed, so that any characteristics of the man are diminished. Around him are thick layers of custard yellow and green paint with the frame playfully painted in a darker tone to set it apart from the composition, so that the traditional notion of the portrait still remains from afar but up close it reveals itself as a series of brushstrokes. Levy was not offended by this treatment of his person and he greatly admired his friend's technique, he stated, ‘Hodgkin has a real genius for suggesting depth and perception with what appear to be (but of course, aren’t) simple swipes of paint. He’s always been able to capture the feeling of looking out of (or into) a window, onto a landscape, a garden or into another room, or looking at a stage’ (Paul Levy, 'Home on the Range with Hodgkin', 8 July 2010). Levy relayed Hodgkin’s success lay in the fact that his works were utterly unique, that it was impossible to fail to recognise his work and one could never confuse it with the paintings of another. He concluded, ‘This is indisputably the hallmark of the Master, the gift given to those few artists who make their mark on history’ (ibid.).
As a food critic, writer, columnist and successful author, Paul Levy has paved the way for new modern British cooking, introducing the nouvelle cuisine chefs of France to Britain, which in turn has changed the eating habits of the country. Levy came to prominence in 1980 when he wrote the first non-recipe column on food to be published in the United Kingdom to critical acclaim and by his third he had won every British prize for food journalism. Since then he has worked at the Observer, as Food and Wine Editor, The Mail on Sunday, edited Lytton Strachey: The Really Interesting Question and has published a number of books including Out to Lunch and the best-selling Official Foodie Handbook, whilst also consulting for leading supermarket chains, restaurants and chefs such as Raymond Blanc and broadcasting on Channel 4. Levy’s interests are not limited to food and literature but encapsulate all the arts, with a special focus on fine art. For a decade he wrote a weekly column on the arts for The Wall Street Journal and remains a regular contributor to the ‘Personal Pages’ where he discusses his love of art. Levy also keeps his blog Art Journal/plain English where he reviews exhibitions and discusses the relationships he had with leading Modern British artists.
One of his most valued friendships was that with Howard Hodgkin, who painted his portrait on two occasions, one in 1976-80 and the other seen in the present lot, A Bust of Paul Levy in 1976-77. Like his other paintings there is an individual subject at the heart of his work, in this case Paul Levy, but any anatomical accuracy has been replaced by an abstracted and purely sensory approach to the sitter. Paul Levy has now been reduced to a smear of pink paint, his facial features removed, so that any characteristics of the man are diminished. Around him are thick layers of custard yellow and green paint with the frame playfully painted in a darker tone to set it apart from the composition, so that the traditional notion of the portrait still remains from afar but up close it reveals itself as a series of brushstrokes. Levy was not offended by this treatment of his person and he greatly admired his friend's technique, he stated, ‘Hodgkin has a real genius for suggesting depth and perception with what appear to be (but of course, aren’t) simple swipes of paint. He’s always been able to capture the feeling of looking out of (or into) a window, onto a landscape, a garden or into another room, or looking at a stage’ (Paul Levy, 'Home on the Range with Hodgkin', 8 July 2010). Levy relayed Hodgkin’s success lay in the fact that his works were utterly unique, that it was impossible to fail to recognise his work and one could never confuse it with the paintings of another. He concluded, ‘This is indisputably the hallmark of the Master, the gift given to those few artists who make their mark on history’ (ibid.).