Frances Hodgkins was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1869, and became one of the most lauded figures in British Modernism by the time she died in Dorset, England in 1947. Hodgkins left New Zealand for Europe in 1901. Upon her arrival in England, she enrolled in art school in London, then traveled, painted and taught in France, the Netherlands, Italy and Morocco with New Zealand-born artist Della Richmond, who was to become her lifelong partner. Aside from a brief stint back in New Zealand between 1903 and 1906 (where she taught students and escaped a brief wedding engagement), Hodgkins steadfastly focused on building her career in Europe and working with women and members of the avant garde.

She was the first woman to teach at Paris’s renowned Academie Colarossi, and she founded the School for Water Colour in Concarneau, France while evolving her practice. In 1919, Hodgkins became a member of the renowned Seven and Five society, a group of seven painters and five sculptors. The group, which included Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore, put on the first exhibition of totally abstract works in England. Her internationally-influenced sensibilities were deeply rooted in Britain, which she was invited to represent at the 1939 Venice Biennial. Unfortunately, because of the war, her work couldn’t travel, and neither could she.

Hodgkins painted until her death in her 70s, having shown at prestigious galleries across England and Europe, having blazed new trails, and having established herself as one of Britain’s top artistic forces.