David+Hockney

= David Hockney =

Group Members: Carly Burkholder and Emily Suiter

First Impressions of David Hockney's Paintings
His paintings are very bright, colorful and creative. Some of his works are more simple than others. The paintings show a more current point of view and is very up to date. There are a lot of nature in his paintings. Most of his paintings have a very happy mood. He paints normal life scenes very differently from what the real scene that he painted. They are more bright and happy than the normal place he is painting. He also draws a lot of pools and water. The blue cool color is very contrasting against all the other bright warm colors.

Background
David was born on July 9th 1937 in Kensington London. David was 4 out of 5 siblings. he became a English painter, draughtsmen, printmaker, photographer and stage designer. He was a big contributor to pop culture in the 1960s. He attended Bradford college of art. He was to graduate in 1962 but they wouldn’t let him because he refused to write his final essay but decided to paint The Diploma in protest, they then realized his talent and gave him his diploma.he then moved around back and forth from california and london which gave him a lot of inspiration. After a while he came out to be gay. Than in 1999 he taught at UCLA where he met Peter schlesinger who he started dating. His assistant died of alcohol abuse in 2013. Than in 2015 he sold his house in california and moved back london were he has a small studio.

Most Famous Works A Bigger Splash (1967) https://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/hockney/splash/hockney.splash.jpg When he was painting this, he was concentrating on his breakup with Peter Schlesinger. When he was painting this he was working at the University of California. This painting was sold for 2.6 million dollars in 2006. This art was based off a more modern California house. David said that this painting was from a picture that was not taken yet and that he doesn’t know who is jumping into the pool. I saw that the house is a modern 60’s type. And it’s very basic but yet cool. And the water that is blue makes the yellow diving board and red and orange house stand out.

After we learned that David painted this beacuase he loves the California happiness and art. He also painted this beacuse he found out that almost everyone in California has pools it really made this painting have a very happy aspect more than it did before. The yellow diving board and the water is very contrasting as most of the painting is.



Mrs and Mr Clark (1971) http://www.tate.org.uk/art/images/work/T/T01/T01269_10. The people are based off of Ossie Clark and the designer Celia Birtwell. Ossie and David had been best friends since 1960. David was also Ossies best man. This painting is now at the Tate Gallery. The cat symbolizes infidelity and envy. Clark and Birtwell’s marriage ended after Clark had many affairs. Also this painting seems like they are very wealthy with fancy furniture and nice clothes. You can see that the women (mrs clark) seems angered at her husband. Mr clark seems like he doesn’t care. Maybe Mrs clark found out about Mr.clark’s affairs. To me they look very serious but i’m sure that the were very fun people. I also wonder if they were famous or did David make them famous. Im also wondering where this painting is spoused to be set like Paris or California.

Beverly Hills Housewife(1967) [|__https://static01.nyt.com/images/2009/02/20/arts/20voge.jpg__] This painting is about a Berverly Hills Wife. You can tell that they are rich because of the style and luxury look of the furniture and house. This is part of his california dreaming serious. It was inspired by the luxury LA california homes in 1967. This painting shows the luxurious living in California. You can also see how the woman is alone which you infer that her husband is at work or gone. The house is very modern. I think that the woman looks kind of bored and tired of being alone while her husband is gone. I do not know that she is looking at but maybe there is a view of California or she is waiting for her husband to arrive. For me I think that the zebra print is very bright as well as the womans dress agaisnt the rest of the gray house. This painting has similar structure to the house in A Bigger Splash. This painting was painted in a similar time frame beacuse you can tell by the colors and structure.



A Bigger Grand Canyon (1998)https://artsearch.nga.gov.au/images/1200/20923.jpg This painting is very vibrant and is painted a little different. The trees contrast with the red canyon. Its painted with a lot of lines. I have observed that David paints a lot of nature, using a lot of different technique. This is different from a lot of his other famous paintings. This one is still nature but it isn’t a backyard or people or a house. It has very bright warm feel to it than his other paintings. There is also a lot of layers going into the horizon. This was made in 1998. He painted this off of photographs. The painting is a collage of 60 pictures. It was bought for 4.6 million dollars. This painting was one of his most famous one. I really like how all the colors contrast and how it is very bright and positive.

Second impression After researching david hockney I found out his life and what got him to where he is now. I also found out what meaning he had to his paintings. A lot of them were inspired by california and some of his painting were dedicated to certain people like his boyfriend. I also found out where he lived through the process of him being a painter. I also found out that he was more than just a painter. His life was very happy and positive so I can see why his paintings were all colorful and bright. He is not married but still very happy. He has a studio in london and a house in Malibu. I understand that that is why he paints days so bright. That’s also probably why he paint a lot of water.

Sources Mr and Ms Clark. (n.d.). Retrieved from Tate website: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/  artworks/hockney-mr-and-mrs-clark-and-percy-t01269 David Hockney’s Life in Painting: Spare, Exuberant, Full. (2017, November 14).  Retrieved from The New York Times website: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/  23/arts/design/david-hockney-art-review-metropolitan-museum-of-art.html

A Bigger Splash [A Bigger Splash]. (n.d.). Retrieved from Tate website:  http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/hockney-a-bigger-splash-t03254

Beverly Hills Housewife. (n.d.). Retrieved from David Hockney website:  http://www.david-hockney.org/beverly-hills-housewife/