RA Magazine Blog: Caro remembers Hoyland

Following on from this month's RA Magazine tributes to John Hoyland RA, who died on 31 July, Anthony Caro RA shares his memories. View a gallery of Hoyland's work in the pop up gallery below right.

"John Hoyland who died on Sunday was every inch a painter. He invested colour, paint and its application with generosity and richness. The paintings stand for nothing but themselves. From his early linear works, through the great slab pictures of the '60s to his very latest sun – or moon – burst paintings – his art has warmth and authority. He was highly respected as an artist and his art remains the yardstick by which English painters can measure themselves and their work.

Click here to see images

"His conviviality, his sense of humour, his down-to-earth response to the world masked a depth of human feeling. He had real sensitivity to other people’s feelings. He was quite without guile. His loyalty was exceptional. He was much loved.

"Although I knew him before, I discovered the real John in 1969 when we travelled together to South America as the two representative British artists in the San Paolo Biennale. In his dealings with others his decency and his integrity shone through. We became fast friends and remained so to the end.

"John’s students relished his unconventional approach. People enjoyed his company, his bubbling sense of humour. He liked good food and drink and a good joke. But beneath it all lay a seriousness about the importance of art. He was a true person and he inspired love in his friends."

• Royal Academy of Arts