In 1954 Robert Hodgins became a Lecturer at the School of Art, Pretoria Technical College, where he remained until 1962. Then he took up a position as Journalist and Critic for Newscheck magazine.
Between 1966 and 1983 he was a Lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand Fine Art Department.
At the end of 1983 he retired to take up painting full-time.

"There are paintings that stem from memory and from a sombre look at the human condition. Paintings about the construction and confusion of contemporary urban life, but also paintings about the pleasures of being alive, pleasures that crowd in upon the pessimism everywhere - that crowd in and refuse to be ignored.

"Being an artist is about putting something into your subject matter that isn't inherently there. You are not at the mercy of your subject matter, it's the content, and what you put into it, what you do with it, what extract from it, and what you put it with, that is so exciting. If you are aware of this, then you begin to build on the content of your whole life. Before you know where you are, you're already thinking about the next work, and you could live to be 300. Paintings can be one-night stands or lifetime love-affairs - you never know until you get cracking" – Robert Hodgins, artists statement 2000

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
1956 Lidchi Gallery, Johannesburg
1958 Lidchi Gallery, Johannesburg
1959 South African Association of the Arts, Pretoria.
1960 Lidchi Gallery, Johannesburg
1986 Retrospective, Standard Bank National Festival of the Arts, Grahamstown
1987 Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
1990 Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
1992 Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
1995 Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
1998 Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
2000 Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
2001 Joao Ferreira Gallery, Cape Town
"50 years a Painter" Retrospective exhibition, University of Potchefstroom, Potchefstroom
2001-2 "50 years a Painter" Retrospective exhibition,SASOL Art Museum, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch
2002 Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
2002 “50 Years a Painter”, Retrospective exhibition, Gertrude Posel Gallery, University of Witswatersrand, Johannesburg
“50 Years a Painter”, Retrospective exhibition, Tatham Art Gallery, Pietermaritzburg
2003 Simon Mee Fine Art, London, United Kingdom.
2004 Hodgins at Goodman, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
1954 Transvaal Art of Today (Best Young Artist Award) Pretoria Centenary Exhibition
1961 Two man show with Ernest de Jong, Gallery 101, Johannesburg.
1970 Two man show with Jan Neetling, Lidchi Gallery, Johannesburg
1971 Two man show of Cliches Verres, with Jan Neetling, Lidchi Gallery, Johannesburg - Also at SA Association of the Arts, Cape Town
1975 Goodman Gallery with Jan Neetling
1978 Paintings with sculptures by Jan Neetling, Market Gallery, Johannesburg
1980 “Wits University Lecturers”, Gertrude Posel Gallery, University of the Witwatersrand.
“Pretty Boy Floyd”, series of graphics, monotypes and one off silk-screens with Jan Neetling, Market Gallery, Johannesburg
1983 Exhibited with Deborah Bell, Ann Sassoon and Frank van Schaik, Carriage House Gallery
1984 “Four Johannesburg Artists” with Ricky Burnett, Jo Smail and Ilona Anderson, opened at the SA National Gallery and toured various galleries countrywide, including the Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg.
1985 Cape Town Triennial, SA National Gallery and major museums around South Africa.
1986 AA Mutual Life Vita Arts Now Awards Exhibition, 3rd quarter Award Winner, Johannesburg Art Gallery
1987 AA Life Vita Art Now Awards Exhibition, Overall Award Winner, Johannesburg.“Hogarth in Johannesburg”, a series of etchings in collaboration with Deborah Bell and William Kentridge, Cassirer Gallery, Johannesburg and national tour.
1989 “Hogarth in Johannesburg” book launch, Gertrude Posel Gallery,University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg .
1990 Life Vita Now Awards, Johannesburg Art Gallery, 3rd quarter winner .
1991 “Little Morals Series” with Deborah Bell and William Kentridge, Cassirer Gallery, Johannesburg.
1992 IGI Life Vita Now Awards, Johannesburg Art Gallery, 1st quarter Award Winner.“Le Bal des Tables Artistiques”, Mayoral Ball, Johannesburg Art Gallery
1992-3 “Easing the Passing (of the Hours)” computer animation and graphics in collaboration with William Kentridge and Deborah Bell.
1993 “Portraits in the Round”, a ceramic exhibition in collaboration with Deborah Bell and Retief van Wyk
1994 “Displacements” curated by David Bunn and Jane Taylor, an exhibition of works on paper, invited to lecture and exhibit with a group of South African artists at the Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
1995 “Mayibue iAfrica”, Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, as part of the Africa ’95 Festival. “Seven Stories of Africa”, South African participation curated by David Koloane, coordinated by Felicity Lunn and Catherine Lampert, Whitechapel Gallery, London as part of the Africa ’95 Festival “Panoramas of Passage”, curated by Clive van den Berg, Meridian International Centre, Washington DC in association with University of the Witwatersrand Art Galleries Recipient, Helgaard Steyn, Award for painting.
1997 Exhibition with South African Artists, Michel Luneau Gallery, Nantes, France
“Ubu 101”,exhibtion with both South African and international artists, Gertrude Posel Gallery, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
“Collaborations”, joint exhibition with William Kentridge and Deborah Bell at the Johannesburg Art Gallery.
“Cram”, an exhibition of South African Artists, SA Association of the Arts, Cape Town.
1999 “<<REWIND>>FAST FORWARD”, Van Reekum Museum of Modern Art, Appeldoorn, Netherlands
2003 “Absolutely/Perhaps”, group exhibition with William Kentridge, Johannes Phokela, Zwelethu Mthethwa, Sam Nhlengethwa, Simon Mee Fine Art, London
PUBLIC AND CORPORATE COLLECTIONS
Various public, private and corporate collections both locally and internationally including::
Anglo American
Johannesburg Art Gallery
Sandton Art Gallery
Pretoria Art Museum
South African National Gallery, Cape Town
University of South Africa (UNISA), Pretoria
University of the Witwatersrand Art Galleries, Johannesburg
William Humphries Art Gallery, Kimberley