David Hockney

For nearly 60 years, David Hockney (British, born 1937) has pursued a singular career with a love for painting and its intrinsic challenges. This major retrospective—the exhibition’s only North American venue—honors the artist in his 80th year by presenting his most iconic works and key moments of his career from 1960 to the present.

David Hockney is on view in Gallery 999, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York, NY, from November 27, 2017 until February 25, 2018.

Working in a wide range of media with equal measures of wit and intelligence, Hockney has examined, probed, and questioned how to capture the perceived world of movement, space, and time in two dimensions. The exhibition offers a grand overview of the artist’s achievements across all media, including painting, drawing, photography, and video. From his early experiments with modernist abstraction and mid-career experiments with illusion and realism, to his most recent, jewel-toned landscapes, Hockney has consistently explored the nature of perception and representation with both intellectual rigor and sheer delight in the act of looking.

Preview featuring Ian Alteveer, Curator, Department of Modern and Contemporary Art, The Met

Exhibition Catalogue and Audio Guides

Available in both hardcover and paperback, the David Hockney exhibition catalogue offers a full career retrospective, illustrated with works (over 200) spanning the artist’s six-decade career.

Hear the stories and inspiration behind the artist’s continual experimentation over a diverse 60-year practice, with commentary by the exhibition’s curators and the artist himself. The Audio Guide is available online and includes an option to view the specific work (view track) while listening to the information.

Visit the museum’s exhibition page to plan your visit, obtain a catalogue, and learn more. https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2017/david-hockney

Art Channel on David Hockney

The Art Channel films and reviews exhibitions of Contemporary Art. We aim to make art and exhibitions accessible for everyone. Grace Adam is an artist and educator. Joshua White is a lecturer and writer.

The Art Channel walks through this retrospective exhibition, David Hockney, at Tate Britain (where it was on view before traveling eventually to The Met) showing 60 years of art by David Hockney.

From his earliest experiments in painting, Hockney develops a naturalism that explores the experience of looking at the world. Because the show was so large, we’ve divided the film into two parts, looking closely at several key works to understand Hockney’s legacy and achievement.

This first film analyses six key paintings from the first half of his career including A Bigger Splash and Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy. Ever curious and observant, Hockney is constantly testing the possibility of art to represent and understand friends, places, objects and architecture.

Grace and Joshua conclude their visit to the large retrospective of David Hockney’s art at Tate Britain spanning 60 years. In this second film, we look at a drawing, a collage made from photographs, a painting made in the Yorkshire woods and a recent iPad drawing. We wrap up the film by thinking about Hockney’s achievement and enduring popularity

9 Canvas Study of the Grand Canyon, detail, 1998, oil on nine canvases, photo credit Richard Schmidt

I fondly recall taking several phone orders from David Hockney’s studio assistant when the above Grand Canyon works were painted. Our Permanent Bright Red was a favorite, along with the Ruby colors and Terre Verte, warm.

Hope you get a chance to enjoy this amazing work in person!