Apr
Into the Woods – David Hockney in Yorkshire
Filed Under (General) by elearning4bradford on 09-04-2010
David Hockney, Bigger Trees Near Warter or/ou Peinture sur le motif pour le nouvel age post- photographique, 2007. Photo by David Hockney / Richard Schmidt, © David Hockney
The frontcover of the latest edition of the journal Modern Painters (April 2010), shelved face-on in the serials section of the Art Library, 6th Floor Grove Library, caught my eye as it carries a photograph of our most distinguished alumnus – David Hockney. Marina Cashdan’s feature article on the 72 year-old Bradford painter and digital technology enthusiast is based on a recent interview at the artist’s home in Bridlington.
While the piece carries some interesting aspects of Hockney’s character (where perhaps his Englishness is accentuated by/for this New York-centric journal) what is of real interest to me are the techniques he uses to construct his paintings. The image above is compiled of 50 smaller canvases (36×48 inches).
As the article explains “He transports the canvases to the woods and paints en plein air, mounting one or more at a time onto easels. Returning to his studio at the end of the day, he combines them to form giant multicanvas pictures. Bigger Trees Near Warter, 2007, which debuted in the Royal Academy’s 2007 summer show, is composed of 50 canvases measuring a combined 15 by 40 feet and controversially took up an entire wall in the main gallery (“I didn’t want any other works to go up next to it,” Hockney says mischievously).”
The current issue of Modern Painters is available in the College Grove Library along with a number of other art journals and an excellent collection of art books. To access the journal online visit the ArtInfo website.
