Hockney: The end (but only for now)
This is my final image from the David Hockney 2025 retrospective exhibition in Paris – and what better way of concluding proceedings than with a capture of the great man himself?
It’s a detail from a photographic drawing (who knew?!) entitled Looking at the Flowers (Framed), created by Hockney in 2022. It’s printed on paper, mounted on sheets of Dibond (aluminium composite sheet), and measures 300cm x 518cm. What I love about this self portrait is that it’s a rear view of the man defiantly smoking a cigarette.
Hockney, as any aficionado will know, is a lifelong tobacco inhaler who rails at all the restrictions in place against smoking. And, I suppose, at the age of 87, why should he care?
Anyway. Farewell to the Hockney Paris exposition; to have been here and seen it for myself has been one of the highlights of my cultural life. I’ve followed him and his work since the 1960s, and he’s still creating, innovating, exploring ideas, pushing the boundaries of art – and showing no sign of slowing down. Joy!
Hockney: The end (but only for now)
This is my final image from the David Hockney 2025 retrospective exhibition in Paris – and what better way of concluding proceedings than with a capture of the great man himself?
It’s a detail from a photographic drawing (who knew?!) entitled Looking at the Flowers (Framed), created by Hockney in 2022. It’s printed on paper, mounted on sheets of Dibond (aluminium composite sheet), and measures 300cm x 518cm. What I love about this self portrait is that it’s a rear view of the man defiantly smoking a cigarette.
Hockney, as any aficionado will know, is a lifelong tobacco inhaler who rails at all the restrictions in place against smoking. And, I suppose, at the age of 87, why should he care?
Anyway. Farewell to the Hockney Paris exposition; to have been here and seen it for myself has been one of the highlights of my cultural life. I’ve followed him and his work since the 1960s, and he’s still creating, innovating, exploring ideas, pushing the boundaries of art – and showing no sign of slowing down. Joy!