Early in her career Frances Hodgkins painted a number of farmyard scenes. On show in the 1890 Canterbury Society of Arts exhibition, Girl Feeding Poultry was the first work she ever exhibited.

Painting in an academic style, Hodgkins has focused on detail, showing the influence of the training she had from her father, William Mathew Hodgkins, who was a part-time watercolourist.

Hodgkins was born in Dunedin and studied at the Dunedin School of Art. In 1901 she left to study at the London Polytechnic. In 1903 Hodgkins exhibited at the Royal Academy, the first New Zealander to have the honour of being ‘hung on the line’. Living in Paris between 1908 and 1912, she taught at the Académie Colarossi, the first woman on the staff there. Hodgkins travelled between New Zealand and Europe until 1913 when she settled in England. Throughout her career she exhibited with many art groups and galleries, including the Lefevre Galleries in London from 1932.