Talk: Curator Sam Cornish on John Hoyland

Talk: Curator Sam Cornish on John Hoyland

John Hoyland (1934-2011) was a major British abstract painter, establishing his reputation in the 1960s and 1970s. After the millennium, in last decade of his life, he became increasingly conscious of his mortality, suffering ill-health and experiencing the death of close friends. The paintings he made in response to this situation are some of his most compelling. Even at their darkest these paintings contain an air of defiance or even celebration and are more about life than death, or at least never death without life. Sam Cornish of The John Hoyland Estate discusses Hoyland’s Song 5.4.09, 2009 in the broader context of Hoyland’s late paintings.

Sam Cornish is a writer and curator, interested in abstract painting and sculpture. He is co-editor of the catalogue raisonné of John Hoyland’s paintings on canvas. Recent projects include Frank Bowling: Sculpture (exhibition at University of Greenwich Galleries and book published by Ridinghouse, 2022) and Mali Morris: Calling, Ikon Gallery, 2023.