Art Of The Day Weekly

Hockney, a passion for portraits

BILBAO – We last saw him, glorified in a retrospective with very high attendance (over 650,000 visitors at the Centre Pompidou). And now he reappears with recent “traditional” works, portraits of people sitting, thus inscribing himself in a long tradition. He’s the man who was fascinated by technology, from the fax to the video, including the iPad! But here he simply picked up his paintbrush, some charcoal, and acrylic paint, and none of those adjuvants one could have accused him of using, such as photography or overhead projectors. When he was getting near his 80th birthday – which he has since surpassed- David Hockney launched himself into a great adventure: to create a sort of human comedy of the people around him - parents, friends, celebrities or simple gardeners. In doing so he respected one unchangeable principle, each person had to pose for three days. In the case of certain very busy stars such as Lord Rothschild or Larry Gagosian, he had to accept a limit of two days. They all sat on the same chair, with the same background. At the Guggenheim with its monumental spaces, the group of 82 paintings fits in one single room, thus giving the impression of a series. Each character is quickly defined, and their psychology is soon visible - tension, shyness, arrogance, physical presence. Special attention is given to details, the motifs on clothes, and even the shoes. One of the youngest persons being painted was in such a rush to get back to the football field that he offered Hockney to leave his shoes so he could finish the portrait. We don’t know if it is a coincidence or unconscious inspiration, but even though techniques differ immensely, the portrait of Brad Bontems, a confirmed landscape architect, seems like a copy of that of M. Bertin, painted two centuries earlier by Ingres…
• David Hockney, 82 portraits and 1 still-life at the Guggenheim Bilbao, from 10 November 2017 to 25 February 2018.

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