october-2011

Photography: Richard Schmidt, Steve Oliver
more sharply on one of the perennial themes of
art. “The fascination just grew for me here. This
was a big theme, and one I could confi dently do:
the infi nite variety of nature.”
Working in the landscape has led him to
fi nd kinship with artists of the past who
depicted similar subjects, among them Turner
and Constable, Monet and Claude. In a way,
you could fi nd his subjects almost anywhere.
Trees, for example, fi gure much more in
Hockney’s art these days than people. He
calls them, “the largest manifestation of the
life force we see”, and goes on to link them,
metaphorically, to human beings. “No two
trees are the same, like us. We’re all a little
bit diff erent inside, and look a little bit
diff erent outside.”
In his latest work, Hockney is engaged with
some fundamental aspects of the world and
the way we see it: space, light, the passing of
time. He has been musing on these matters
for half a century now, and talks about them
brilliantly. In other ways, though, everything
he represents – vegetation, climate, terrain –
is specifi c and local.
The grandest room at the Royal Academy
will be fi lled with a series of iPad drawings
chronicling the coming of spring to the Yorkshire
Wolds. “I realised it was all about what was
happening on the ground,” Hockney enthuses,
“Grasses come up, then the fi rst campion
fl owers, then buttercups and dandelions.
Every time we get the spring I get thrilled.”
A Bigger Message: Conversations with
David Hockney by Martin Gayford is published
this month by Thames & Hudson, £18.95
(thamesandhudson.com). David Hockney:
A Bigger Picture is at the Royal Academy of Arts
from January 21 to April 9, royalacademy.org.uk
peuvent se rencontrer n’importe où. Les arbres, par exemple, sont
aujourd’hui autrement plus présents dans son œuvre que les hommes.
Métaphoriquement, il relie ces « plus grandes manifestations visibles
de la force de vie », comme il les appelle, aux hommes : « Comme
nous, aucun arbre ne ressemble à un autre. Nous sommes tous un peu
diff érents à l’intérieur et également un peu à l’extérieur. »
Ses dernières œuvres abordent plusieurs aspects fondamentaux du
monde et de la perception que nous en avons : l’espace, la lumière,
le temps qui passe. David Hockney explore ces thèmes depuis
maintenant un demi-siècle et les évoque avec brio, même si tout ce
qu’il représente (végétation, climat, terrain) est d’une certaine manière
local et spécifi que.
Dans la plus belle salle de la Royal Academy s’affi cheront bientôt
ses dessins sur iPad, chroniques de l’arrivée du printemps sur les
Yorkshire Wolds. « C’est sur le sol que tout se passe, s’enthousiasmet-il.
D’abord l’herbe, puis les fl eurs de silènes, les boutons d’or et enfi n
les pissenlits. À chaque printemps je ressens la même excitation. »
A Bigger Message: Conversations with David Hockney, de Martin
Gayford, sort ce mois-ci chez Thames & Hudson, 18,95 £,
(thamesandhudson.com). L’exposition David Hockney: A Bigger Picture
sera à la Royal Academy du 21 janvier au 9 avril, royalacademy.org.uk
Top/en haut:
Winter Timber,
2009.
Left /ci-contre:
The Road Across
the Wolds, 1997
metropolitan 81