Howard Hodgkin: In Conversation

Howard Hodgkin, Swimming, 2011, Print A, print for the London 2012 Olympic Games
Howard Hodgkin, Swimming, 2011, Print A, print for the London 2012 Olympic Games poster, silkscreened by King and McGaw, published by Counter Editions © Howard Hodgkin

Stuart Jeffries talks to painter Howard Hodgkin as the artist approaches his 80th birthday.

" 'I am a representational painter, but not a painter of appearances. I paint representational pictures of emotional situations,' said Hodgkin once. But for the most part, Hodgkin doesn't talk about his work. Paint is, for him, more eloquent than words. When people ask him what he means by a painting, he's given to saying: 'Look! Just look!' "