David Hockney painted winter trees bursting into blossom in his Normandy garden during spring 2020, producing iPad drawings that many found a respite during the pandemic. He compiled 220 images of changing seasons into a continuous 90-metre frieze titled A Year in Normandy. The frieze and other works will be exhibited at the Serpentine gallery in London as a free show expected to draw thousands. Hockney cited the Bayeux tapestry as an inspiration and moved to Normandy in late 2019. The works emphasize seasonal renewal and a renewed connection to nature.
In the spring of 2020, as the Covid-19 virus was going mad, David Hockney kept himself busy by painting winter trees bursting into blossom in his Normandy garden. Many people said my drawings were a great respite from what was going on, Britain's pre-eminent living artist said at the time. Citizens of the post-pandemic world, with its rollercoaster of conflict, rightwing populism, climate crisis and techno-revolution, may still be in need of Hockney's respite by next spring. They will find it at an exhibition of his extraordinary 90-metre frieze, A Year in Normandy, and other works at the Serpentine gallery in London.
Hockney moved to Normandy, the home of the Bayeux tapestry, in late 2019, and began producing images of winter trees on his iPad. Then this virus started he told the BBC in the spring of 2020. He sent images to his friends, and publicly released one of daffodils, titled: Do Remember They Can't Cancel the Spring. Why are my iPad drawings seen as a respite from the news? Well, they are obviously made by the hand depicting the renewal that is the spring in this part of the world. He added: We have lost touch with nature rather foolishly as we are a part of it, not outside it.
Collection
[
|
...
]