A Bigger Picture. The exhibition features vivid paintings inspired by Yorkshire landscape, many large in scale and created specifically for the exhibition, will be shown alongside related drawings and films. Through a selection of works spanning fifty years, this new body of work will be placed in the context of Hockney's extended exploration of and fascination with landscape.
In January 2012 the Royal Academy of Arts will present the first major exhibition in the UK to
showcase David Hockney’s landscape work. Vivid paintings inspired by Yorkshire landscape, many
large in scale and created specifically for the exhibition, will be shown alongside related drawings
and films. Through a selection of works spanning fifty years, this new body of work will be placed in
the context of Hockney’s extended exploration of and fascination with landscape.
Highlights will include three groups of new work made since 2005, when Hockney returned to live in
Bridlington, showing an intense observation of his surroundings in a variety of media. The
exhibition will reveal the artist’s emotional engagement with the landscape he knew in his youth, as
he examines on a daily basis the changes in the seasons, the cycle of growth and variations in light
conditions. The exhibition will take the visitor on a journey through Hockney’s world.
The exhibition will address the various approaches that David Hockney has taken towards the
depiction of landscape throughout his career. Past works from national and international collections
will include Rocky Mountains and Tired Indians, 1965 (Acrylic on Canvas), Garrowby Hill, 1998, (Oil
on Canvas) and the ambitious (Oil on 60 Canvases) A Closer Grand Canyon, 1998. David Hockney
.
RA: A Bigger Picture will also highlight the artist’s vast knowledge and research of the old masters
and their techniques.
Hockney’s involvement with the depiction of space is traced in this exhibition from the 1960s,
through his photocollages of the 1980s and the Grand Canyon paintings of the late 1990s, to the
recent paintings of East Yorkshire, many of which have been made en plein air. He has always
embraced new technologies; recently he has used the iPhone and iPad as tools for making art. A
number of iPad drawings and a series of new films produced using eighteen cameras will be
displayed on multiple screens, providing a spellbinding visual experience.
Born in Bradford in 1937, David Hockney attended Bradford School of Art before studying at the
Royal College of Art from 1959 to 1962. Hockney’s stellar reputation was established while he was
still a student; his work was featured in the exhibition Young Contemporaries, which heralded the
birth of British Pop Art. He visited Los Angeles in the early 1960s and settled there soon after. He is
closely associated with southern California and has produced a large body of work there over many
decades. David Hockney was elected a Royal Academician in 1991.
Organisation
David Hockney RA: A Bigger Picture has been organised by the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in
collaboration with the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao and the Museum Ludwig, Cologne. The
exhibition has been curated by the independent curator Marco Livingstone and Edith Devaney, the
Royal Academy of Arts.
Catalogue
David Hockney RA: A Bigger Picture will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue. A number
of essays, including an introduction by Marco Livingstone will explore the artist’s engagement with
landscape painting in the context of Hockney’s illustrious career. Writers as notable as Margaret
Drabble, Tim Barringer, Martin Gayford, Xavier Salomon and David Hockney himself address the
artist’s place in the landscape tradition, his recent video works and his delight in new technologies.
Sponsor’s statement
Ludovic de Montille, Chairman of the BNP Paribas Group in the UK said: "David Hockney is one of
the most influential British artists of the twentieth century and this important exhibition of
landscape work showcases his evolution and his renewed creativity. BNP Paribas, the bank for a
changing world, has selected creativity as one of its four core values and as such, is particularly
proud to support this exciting and vibrant exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts - David Hockney
RA: A Bigger Picture."
About BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas (www.bnpparibas.com) is one of the strongest banks in the world*. The Group has a
presence in more than 80 countries and more than 200,000 employees, including more than
160,000 in Europe. It ranks highly in its three core activities: Retail Banking, Investment Solutions
and Corporate & Investment Banking. In Europe, the Group has four domestic markets (Belgium,
France, Italy and Luxembourg) and BNP Paribas Personal Finance is the leader in consumer
lending. BNP Paribas is rolling out its integrated retail banking model across the Europe-
Mediterranean zone and boasts a large network in the western part of the United States. In its
Corporate & Investment Banking and Investment Solutions activities, BNP Paribas also enjoys top
positions in Europe, a strong presence in the Americas and solid and fast-growing businesses in
Asia.
About welcome to Yorkshire
Welcome to Yorkshire is the Destination Management Organisation for Yorkshire, tasked with
growing the visitor economy of the county. Welcome to Yorkshire works with VHEY (Visit Hull and
East Yorkshire) to promote East Yorkshire, the current home of David Hockney and the inspiration
for most of the works in David Hockney RA: A Bigger Picture. Hockney’s relationship with Yorkshire
embraces his birthplace in Bradford, the Yorkshire Wolds, the inspiration for much of his current
work and his present home in Bridlington on the Yorkshire Coast.
Image: Woldgate Woods, 21, 23 & 29 November 2006, 2006. Oil on 6 canvases. 182 x 366 cm. Courtesy of the Artist. © David Hockney. Photo credit: Richard Schmidt.
For further press information, please contact Simone Sagi - Royal Academy press office on Tel: 020 7300 5615, fax: 020 7300 8032, or email press.office@royalacademy.org.uk
Royal Academy of Arts
Burlington House Piccadilly London
Hours: 10am – 6pm daily (last admission 5.30pm). Late night opening: fridays until 10pm (last admission 9.30pm)
Admission £14 full price; £13 registered disabled and 60 + years; £9 NUS / ISIC cardholders; £4 12–18 years
and Income Support; £3 8–11 years; 7 and under free. RA Friends go free.