British Pop artist David Hockney's recent studies on the use of optical devices by painters such as Velázquez and Rembrandt have caused debate within the art community. His book Secret Knowledge details his theories on the subject. After its publication, Hockney decided to spend time in Yorkshire to "paint the spatial experience of landscape." This book is from the resulting exhibition at Annely Juda Fine Art.
David Hockney Paints Landscapes
Hockney rarely painted landscapes until the 1990s. His prior work usually includes human figures and domestic scenes. The 25 paintings in A Year in Yorkshire, however, are all landscapes. When houses do appear, they function as elements of the landscape rather than subject matter. The multi-panel paintings in the series are also new, and the book includes fold-out pages to show them.
Optics and Hockney's Feeling of Space
Although Hockney was making a transition to landscapes in the '90s, his studies on the relationship between optics and the history of painting have clearly impacted both the subject matter of this work and his approach to composition. He has sought to depict subjective spaces here: "Tree Tunnel, August," for example, sucks the viewer into a covered path only to end abruptly in a yellow circle with what looks to be a ladder.
Fauvist Colors, Pop Art Sensibility
The book is almost exclusively illustrations, with the exception of two quotes and an introduction by David Hockney at the beginning. The reproductions are excellent and allow the paintings here to speak for themselves. The vivid greens, sunny yellows, velvety lavenders, and fiery oranges in A Year in Yorkshire recall Fauvist paintings, but the graphic Pop art style is there, too, especially in trees' branches and sections of fields.
A British Pop Artist's Return to the English Countryside
Pop Art drew from pop culture, urban existence, and the postmodern experience. After a long career making cool, ironic paintings about California living, Hockney has now come back to England to create rural landscapes. His painting led him to his research on optics and the history of painting. And this research, in turn, led him to this change in subject matter in his painting.
A Year in Yorkshire documents a major transition in David Hockney's work. The book, a catalog of that first show after Secret Knowledge, lets the work speak for itself. The only essay here is brief, and by the artist himself. It's an elegant tactic that works because the book is well printed.
David Hockney, A Year in Yorkshire. Annely Juda Fine Art, 2006. ISBN: 1904621139
There's a bit more about Hockney at Art Books blog.
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