Houses and Outhouses, Purbeck 

Frances Hodgkins painted this landscape in Purbeck; its date is unknown. Hodgkins, who moved from New Zealand to Europe and lived most of her life in the UK and France, was well aware of her outsider status as a woman and a colonial subject. Houses and Outhouses, Purbeck, exemplifies Hodgkins’s move away from traditional landscape painting towards a more abstract and emotionally expressive style. The painting blends domestic and natural spaces, blurring the lines between the familiar and the foreign. This can be seen as a reflection of her life. As a constant traveler, the theme of "home" may have been particularly resonant. In this landscape Hodgkins is not only representing a physical place but also her feelings and personal experiences. Hodgkins, as a woman artist, negotiated a path in a male-dominated art world. The work shows her independence and innovation. Hodgkins once said, "I have always tried to express myself simply and directly." The simplicity invites us to connect with the scene on a deeply personal level.