Hodgkin was first recognised in the 1960s while teaching at the Chelsea School of Art. Courtesy The Fitzwilliam Museum

The Fitzwilliam Museum is showing an exhibition of works by renowned British artist Howard Hodgkin, running at the Cambridge venue until September 23 2007.

Organised jointly with the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, Connecticut, this free exhibition celebrates Hodgkin’s work from the past 15 years and includes several paintings never before seen in public in the UK.

Hodgkin’s distinct style and use of intense colour have earned him worldwide recognition and he describes his paintings as ‘representational pictures of emotional situations’.

Preferring to paint on wood, Hodgkin often reuses panels which have had a previous purpose. Working from memory, he both reveals and obscures his subjects by layering the picture surface with bold colours and distinctive marks.

Small Chez Max Courtesy (1989-97). The Fitzwilliam Museum

Although his works have features in common with the abstract expressionists, he does not attempt to recreate their spontaneity and instead reflects on each painting over a period of time, often taking several years to create the finished product.

Duncan Robinson, Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, said: “We are particularly pleased that this very personal selection of recent paintings by so distinguished an artist will be on display in Cambridge throughout the summer, affording students and residents, as well as the Fitzwilliam’s many visitors from this country and abroad, an ideal opportunity to enjoy these rich and striking works.”

Works on display include After Degas (1993), the imposing After Vuillard (1996-2002) and a group of small paintings with evocative titles like Mud, Fog, Echo and Venice Grey Water.

After Vuillard (1996-2002). Courtesy The Fitzwilliam Museum

Hodgkin was born in 1932 and achieved major recognition in the 1960s while teaching at the Chelsea School of Art. He held his first one-man show in London in 1962 and has gone on to represent Britain at the 1984 Venice Biennale and was awarded the Turner Prize in 1985.

Knighted in 1992 and made a Companion of Honour in 2003 for 'services to art', as well as being seen in galleries around the world his distinctive work has found diverse uses from decorating a Royal Mail stamp and a Ballet Rambert stage design to adorning a poster promoting the London Underground and as a mural for the British Council building in New Delhi.

Another Hodgkin exhibition, A Life in Colour, covering works from 1964-2006, will be running at Victoria Art Gallery in Bath from July 28 to September 30 2007. See the gallery’s website for more details.