David Hockney "A Bigger Picture" at the de Young on Thursday

I enjoyed roaming through the current David Hockney exhibit at the de Young.  The exhibit is on two floors and consists of over 300 works that the 76 year-old has created in the last 10 years.  The native from Yorkshire, England had lived nearly 40 years in Southern California where his works have been shown at the L.A. County Museum of Art on several occasions.  He returned to Yorkshire to be near his mother in her last years.  While there, he rediscovered the glory of the four seasons and began capturing them with oil and water colors on canvas but also through photography with multiple cameras.  He also discovered the joys of painting on his I Pad and printing out his creations on large panels.  Many of his sketches are also shown and some of his work with charcoal.

"A Bigger Picture" refers to his use of multiple canvases, cameras and prints to show the great beauty of his subjects that include Yosemite as well as Yorkshire.  One of his paintings of the The Sermon on the Mount is on 30 canvases each 3' by 4'.  Videos are shown on multiple television screens covering entire walls.  In one room, the videos showed the same woods in each of the 4 season.  In another the woods are painted on six canvases each showing the same scene in seasons.

Hockney demonstrates the influence of the Cubism (think Picasso), post Impressionists (think van Gogh), and the Fauvist (Matisse..."Wild Beasts").  His colors and creativity are striking and fun to explore.  His sketches of his friends and family are interesting studies that took 8 hours of posing...none are very complimentary...but they show reality.

Here are a few samples of the exhibit:


"Four Views of Montcalm Terrace," 2003 watercolor on four sheets of paper.



"Self Portrait with Charlie," 2005 oil on canvas 6' by 3'

"Cactus Garden III," Print

"Study for Cherry Blossom," 2002

"Yosemite I, October 16, 2011," I Pad Drawing pinted on six sheets of paper 6' by 3.5' each

David Hockney and his portraits of his friends and family



"Self Portrait with Red Braces," 2003 watercolor on paper




"The Massacre and the Problems of Depiction" 2003.  Picasso inspired.



David Hockney's Sermon on the Mount entitle "A Bigger Message," 2010, oil on 30 canvases 3' by 4' each.

David Hockney loves these Spring flowers and rushes to the country to capture their magic.



"Woldgate Woods, 26,27, & 30 July 2006" oil on 6 canvases



"Woldgate Woods, 30 March-21 April 2006," oil on 6 canvases 3' by 4' each

"Bigger Trees Nearer Warter, Winter 2009," oil on 9 canvases 3' by 4' each

"Woldgate, 6-7 February," from The Arrival of Spring 2013, charcoal on paper

Friends

David Hockney working on "The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011."