David Hockney: The Arrival of Spring, Normandy, 2020

Joyful exhibition at the Royal Academy of new work by David Hockney.

All the 116 works had been done on an ipad and then blown up to a large scale and displayed like Old Master paintings. They were all done over 6 months in 2020 when he stayed in Normandy during lockdown and recorded the landscape around him and the changes that Spring brought to it.

You were hit by an amazing sense of colour as you walked into the room and his joy in the landscape. It was nice to gradually see trees and flowers coming back to life. You couldn’t help but be reminded of Monet’s series paintings such as the haystacks and Van Gogh’s pictures of blossom.

I am not sure these were great works of art but they certainly have something to say about this strange period we have just been through and it’s wonderful to see an artist of 84 still experimenting with new techniques and tools.

Closed 26 September 2021

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