John Hoyland | Relentless Rhythm

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Introductory Essay

At Eames Fine Art, we have been selling John Hoyland’s graphic works for as long as we have been selling prints and have always revelled in their passion, their rigour, their sheer power. Meeting collectors who feel the same way has been a recurring pleasure and indeed we have encountered a considerable following for Hoyland’s prints through the gallery. While the appetite for this show amongst collectors of Hoyland’s work may be well established, we are just as excited to be telling a new audience about an artist they really should know more about. Either way, this is a wonderful (and some might argue long-overdue) opportunity to look at John Hoyland the printmaker anew. 

To help us do this we have received the generous support of Hoyland’s widow Beverley Heath-Hoyland, and Wiz Patterson Kelly and Sam Cornish at the John Hoyland Estate. This has enabled us to bring you a host of works from Hoyland’s archive, many exhibited for the first time, that shed new light on the dialogue Hoyland conducted between printmaking and painting. Fascinating insights have been provided by sketchbooks and Polaroids: fragments that document a rich archaeology of image-making. 

Printmaking offered Hoyland the chance for collaboration and respite from the solitary ‘hand-to-hand combat’ of painting; a space to ‘talk, chat, have a laugh, listen to the radio’. This is not to underplay the seriousness of the undertaking. This was territory he navigated in the company of a host of fine technicians, master-printmakers and fellow artists, and all attest to his fierce commitment to the medium, exacting high standards and profound sincerity (albeit leavened by a constant generosity of spirit). We are delighted to include the memories of some of those who worked with Hoyland in the following pages.  

The chance to offer a fresh look at John Hoyland’s graphic work is a privilege. It is a story well worth the telling and we are delighted to be adding a fresh chapter here in the gallery this autumn.

Vincent Eames, October 2021