Time Amongst Pictures is a body of etchings by Oliver Hoffmeister developed in response to an extended period of study at the Museo del Prado. The work follows Hoffmeister’s selection as one of four recipients of the Richard Ford Award in 2024, a prize that supports figurative artists from British and Irish art schools with time and access to work directly from the Prado’s collection.
Nominated by Andy Pankhurst during Hoffmeister’s time at the Royal Drawing School, the award enabled a six-week residency in Madrid in late summer and early autumn. During this period, Hoffmeister was granted wide access to the museum’s holdings, including works normally kept within its archives. The experience allowed for sustained looking and reflection, with the freedom to move in and out of the galleries shaping a way of working that prioritised time, repetition, and quiet attention.
After returning to the UK, the intensity of the research period took time to settle. When Hoffmeister began to reflect on the experience more clearly, the desire emerged to produce a body of work that did not document the residency directly but instead distilled it through memory. Initial experiments were developed with master lithographer Lee Turner in Newcastle, before Hoffmeister shifted toward self-producing a series of drypoint etchings. This process felt closer to drawing and more aligned with the historic works encountered in Madrid.
Rather than working from reproductions, Hoffmeister chose to work predominantly from memory. Specific paintings from the Prado collection acted as starting points, but were reimagined through recollection and imagination in order to avoid direct copying. Early prints felt too fixed and resolved, prompting a change in approach. By producing multiple plates for each image and printing them over one another, Hoffmeister created images that move between forms. Colour became a more active element, with complementary palettes accentuating a sense of instability and transformation. Only later did the connection between memory and the layering of plates become clear, both operating through overlap, slippage, and reconstruction.
The final series comprises seventeen etchings, all rooted in Hoffmeister’s time in Madrid. The works are currently presented in an exhibition at Northern Print in Newcastle, shown as a duo exhibition with Kevin Petrie. The exhibition runs from 21 January to 7 March 2026.
Reflecting on the experience, Hoffmeister notes, “I am so thankful to the Richard Ford Foundation and to Andy Pankhurst for nominating me. The experience I had at the Museo del Prado is something that I could have never dreamt of and will impact me and my art for a long time to come.” The series stands as a record of that impact, shaped not by direct observation alone, but by the slow work of memory, printmaking, and time spent amongst pictures.
Artist links
Website: https://www.oliverhoffmeister.co.uk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oliverhoffmeisterart
Shop: https://oliverhoffmeister.bigcartel.com
