Robert Hodgins – The Scene of the Crime, 1994

Robert Hodgins (1920-2010)
The Scene of the Crime (1994)
oil on canvas / 910 x 1210 mm
CCAC #0117

Donated by Louis Schachat, Die Kunskamer, Cape Town

The painting is unusual for Hodgins in that no figures are depicted, only an empty room bathed in a deep red glow. The title suggests that a violent act has occurred, the interior retaining some memory of the traumatic event. The door left open leads to a dark passageway and other doors, suggesting a perpetrator may have escaped.