David Hockney: A Life in Paint
David Hockney earned the title of “pop star” early in his career and his artwork is now copied in books, posters, jackets, t-shirts, shopping bags, and picture books. Even though there are art critics that believe that the demands of art cannot be met by painting incidents from ones own life, this is not true for David Hockney. He uses his homosexuality, his moves to California and his relationships with friends and family to create his pieces of art.
David Hockney’s early work expressed his excitement and freedom after he confessed that he was homosexual. Adhesiveness, We Two Boys Together Clinging, Doll Boy, and The Most Beautiful Boy in the World are paintings in which David Hockney expressed his homosexuality. Hockney was influenced by the poet Walt Whitman and used Whitman’s numerical order to name the figures in his paintings and he also used lines from one of Whitman’s poem to give deeper meaning to the painting We Two Boys Together Clinging. In Hockney’s paintings Adhesiveness and We Two Boys Together Clinging, it is clear that the figures are engaged in sexual acts. In Doll Boy, David Hockney painted the words “your love means more to me”. This could be directed at the figure in the painting or as part of his general theme of homosexuality. All of these paintings show a theme of homosexuality, something that Hockney did not mind admitting to.
During his first move to California, David Hockney painted Domestic Scene Los Angeles, California, Two Boys in a Pool, Peter Getting Out of Nick’s Pool, A Lawn Being Sprinkled, and A Bigger Splash. The first four paintings listed still show Hockney’s theme of homosexuality and his obsession with naked men. Hockney also no longer needed to add text in order to avoid abstraction because his work became a more life-like and it became easier to identify the people. All of these paintings also show Hockney’s desire to play with the look of water and different ways to represent it.
In the 1960s, Hockney started painting relationships. He paid particular attention to the relationship between the people in the painting and also his relationship to them. A few of these paintings are Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott, Mr. and Mrs. Clark and Percy, and My Parents. In Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott, Hockney painted Christopher with his coat on, showing that he is always leaving and he painted Henry sitting on a couch, showing that Henry is more commonly found at home. Henry and Hockney probably had a better relationship as well because Henry is looking at Hockney and Christopher is not. Hockney painted the tensions within the marriage of the Clarks in Mr. and Mrs. Clark and Percy and the marriage eventually ended in a divorce. Hockney painted his relationship to his parents in My Parents. By looking at the painting, one can see thatHockney had a stronger relationship with his mother than with his father. This is seen by the direction his parents are facing.
After he moved back to California in the late 1970s, Hockney started painting landscapes. Hockney’s purpose in making these landscape paintings was to make the eye move across the canvas as if one was walking or driving down the road. Nicolas Canyon and Pacific Coast Highway and Santa Monica both accomplish this. Hockney eventually moved back to England but he still painted landscapes. Garrowsby Hill is just one example. This painting is different from his California landscapes but he still used the long road winding throughout the land to catch a viewer’s eye.
Prompts:
1. Pick one or two paintings and describe how the painting(s) make you feel, what you see, and why you think Hockney might have painted the painting(s).
2. Do you think Hockney's paintings of California are a good or bad representation of the state?
3. Compare the paintings Nicolas Canyon (California) and Garrowsby Hill (England). Which area do you think Hockney liked better and why? What can the painting tell you about Hockney?
David Hockney certainly had a very broad career in art that incorporated many different mediums and methods of work. His style changes so prominently in each of his different genres that it is almost as if his work is being accomplished by more than one artist. However, this vast diversity in his art just serves to outline the breadth of character that is Hockney himself.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite style of Hockney’s art is his collaged Polaroid photographs. They are so unique and show the different sides of a person or scene so well that it is as if Hockney has an innate insight into them. However, as far as Hockney’s paintings go, I think that he portrays relationships very well. These portraits are painted very simply yet very accurately, and are extremely indicative of character. My favorite of his “relationship-phase” portraits is My Parents. There is something so real and universally significant about this work. I feel like this couple could be anyone’s parents. His mother is happily humoring her son, and is dressed conservatively. She looks to be the classic church-going elderly woman. His father is much more withdrawn from the scene. He is not directly staring at the viewer; rather, he is absorbed in reading his book instead of being engaged with his son. His slouched position contrasts greatly with the mother’s erect and proper posture. While his parents appear to have a comfortable, albeit detached, relationship with one another, Hockney also suggests his own very different relationship with his parents. His mother appears very accepting of him and happy to be around him. His father on the other hand looks as if he could care less to be around his son. There is definitely a tension there that suggests that perhaps Hockney’s father does not accept him for who he is.
This sense of detachment in the painting actually saddens me. While at first glance the portrait looks as if it should be an artwork invoking positive connotations (because of the grandparental figures and colorful tulips), the disparity that is present between Hockney and his father makes me think about all of the distraught relationships that exist between family members. This is the reality of society, however, it is slightly distressing to see it represented in art.
Another interesting area of Hockney’s work was his landscape period. The two paintings Nicolas Canyon and Garrowsby Hill are very different. Nicolas Canyon was painted in California and therefore also fits into his California-themed artwork. It is very vividly colorful and reminiscent of a fantastic imagination. Garrowsby Hill was painted in England and definitely has a different feel to it. It is more realistic, however I feel that there is also more of his own style in it because of the brightly colored fields and the similar way that he makes the paint move across canvas. Of the two, I really like Garrowsby Hill, probably because I am much more drawn to realism in art. Yet there is just enough color and surrealism in it to make it interesting. This is probably my favorite of all of Hockney’s paintings. It draws my interest and, to be honest, it is probably the only one that I would ever choose to own a reproduction of. His other paintings, while interesting, are not as aesthetically pleasing to me as this one.
Response to David Hockney Prompts
ReplyDeleteDavid Hockney undoubtedly had talent that he clearly expressed in his paintings. While I honestly found some of his paintings to be brash and borderline offensive, I took a strong liking to his works involving landscapes, as well as his overall style of “abstract” painting. One painting in particular caught my attention. Nichols Canyon is a beautiful picture where I believe Hockney really shined in his use of colors and his talent for representational art. The picture is calming to observe and has a sense of motion with his depiction of the winding road. In observing the painting, I feel as though I am driving down a rural road somewhere in the farmlands of California. As I have traveled to different parts of California a number of times, this painting specifically reminds me of the rolling farmland and country roads of Northern-Central California. The columnar cypress trees in the foreground and the background help to add a rural, relaxing theme to this appealing painting. The different vegetable fields are representative of California’s rich, plentiful agricultural attributes. I believe that Hockney painted Nichols Canyon to give the viewer the feeling of driving though and experiencing the beauty of rural California.
Hockney incorporated California into a significant number of his paintings, including Nichols Canyon, A Bigger Splash, and Pacific Coast Highway and Santa Monica. As I aforementioned, I have been to numerous parts of California and have seen the different cities and landscapes. I believe that Hockney’s depictions of California, especially in landscape form, are remarkably accurate in their representation of the state. Some of them are even geographically accurate, as is the case with Pacific Coast Highway and Santa Monica. The hills and coastal mountains in the foreground are similar, in reality, to how Hockney depicted them. As one continues toward the California Southland on the Pacific Coast Highway, which actually runs right along the edge of the coast, the coastline curves directly southward when one arrives in Santa Monica, as the painting depicts. Hockney even pays attention to the high-rise buildings in the core of Santa Monica, seen toward the background of the painting. A number of smaller, inland highways in this area do, however, bear resemblance the curving, sloping highways that Hockney painted into the middle ground of the picture.
Finally, in comparing Garrowsby Hill to Nichols Canyon, I feel that Hockney had a higher opinion and liking towards California, as opposed to the United Kingdom. Nevertheless, he did include many colors and a sense of dimension to Garrowsby Hill, making for a painting that is pleasing to the eye. However, toward the background of the painting, Hockney incorporates a number of blue hues into the English countryside, which almost gives the painting a sort of sad, dreary theme if one focuses particularly on the background. By doing this, Hockney seems to be expressing that he found the countryside of that area to be bland, monotonous, and depressing. In contrast to this blue theme, Nichols Canyon has many colors and objects in both the foreground and the background that keep the painting colorful, warm, and interesting in almost all aspects. I believe that Hockney felt more relaxed and at-ease in California, which is likely why he decided to make his home in the state. Overall, shortcomings aside, I believe that Hockney was a gifted artist who encompassed keen attention to unique detail in his paintings.
I think David Hockney’s representations of California through his paintings are accurate. He obviously had his own unique style to painting the landscapes but he represents the rolling hills of California and the various aspects of the landscape. He uses vivid colors that represent the agriculture of the area, and further highlights the natural geography. Even his paintings of swimming pools accurately represent California. The stark architecture seen in his works is very reminiscent of southern California, with the ranch-style houses and more modern aesthetic. His use of colors also influences because southern California is seen as sunny all of the time, with more consistent warm weather than northern California, so the bright blues contrasted against white and yellow are very indicative of the area.
ReplyDeleteHockney accurately portrays both England’s country side and southern California, but his style in each painting is slightly different. The painting of California is very organic, with some emphasis on the farmland and natural features, but the painting of England has very distinct trees and plots of farmland. Both share the bright colors and give a good feeling about the landscape.
I think Hockney enjoyed each landscape as he painting them, not one over the other. The subtle and blatant differences, I don’t think, show a dislike or like of one landscape more than another. They do show an evolution in his style though. I think when Hockney painted his works he was happy with where he was physically because the colors he uses are bright and vivid and he accurately shows the landscape without any negative features.
The differences do show an evolution in his work though. The California pictures are all slightly distorted, from the swimming pools to the landscapes. They aren’t so distorted that the image can’t be seen, but they aren’t as clear as his painting of England. That painting clearly shows trees and the curvature of the road has clear lines. I think if anything, both are showing a path to somewhere unknown, somewhere he doesn’t even know. The California scene is into the mountains, which could be going East towards England, and the English scene goes into farmland, where California begins. Maybe instead of showing a preference to one landscape over the other, it’s showing a relationship. His love for both leading him in a circular path through his life. It’s like anyone’s life; they don’t reside in one place, but generally become attached to a few places, so maybe Hockney was showing his relationship between his two homes, and how they influenced him in two separate ways.
I know personally I was going back and forth between coasts, while moving, and I wouldn’t illustrate each of them in the same style, but rather differently as they appeared to me at the time. One place always has a different feeling to it than another because of the time in your life you’re viewing it or because the landscape varies so greatly. I think Hockney tried to show this in these two landscapes.