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Signed by the artist, numbered, and dated 79 lower center in red crayon. Soft-ground etching printed from the same plate as Late Afternoon in the Museum of Modern Art, with hand coloring in black gouache on Grey BFK Rives mould-made paper.
This print depicts an abstracted scene, perhaps a sculpture in front of a window in the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in Hodgkin’s signature painterly style. The expressive mark-making in this print is an example of the artist’s movement in the late 70s towards pronounced gestures. Wide areas of deep black pigment contrast urgent swipes of ink. Always seeking greater richness in his prints, Hodgkin layered ink and hand coloring in this print, rendering each impression in the edition unique.
Part of a series of four prints set in the Museum of Modern Art, New York (Late Afternoon, Early Evening, Thinking Aloud, and All Alone in the Museum of Modern Art). At earlier stages, these four prints were called by other titles: ‘Alone in the Museum of Modern Art’, ‘Not Quite Alone in the Museum of Modern Art’, “Inside the Museum of Modern Art’, ‘Talking about Modern Art’, and ‘Shadows in the Museum of Modern Art.’
Howard Hodgkin was introduced to the etching technique used in Early Evening in the Museum of Modern Art at Petersburg Press, where this print was produced and where he would become a long-time collaborator. This technique allowed him to work fluidly and spontaneously, creating the moody interior scenes that mark Hodgkin’s work from the late 70s and early 80s.
A copy of this print is in the collection of the Tate, London.
