Rita Pynoos

David Hockney RA: 82 Portraits and 1 Still-life is an intimate exhibition of recent portraits by the Royal Academician artist, revisiting the genre that has played such a major part across his long career.

Vibrant, observant and full of life, these paintings, which Hockney considers as one body of work, have all been executed over the past two and a half years in the artist’s Los Angeles studio.

The exhibition offers an insight into the artist’s life in Los Angeles, his connections to the art world and the people who have crossed his path over the past few years. Hockney’s subjects – all of whom were invited by the artist to sit for him – include friends, family, acquaintances and staff. John Baldessari, Celia Birtwell, Dagny Corcoran, Larry Gagosian, Frank Gehry, Barry Humphries, David Juda and Jacob Rothschild are all represented, as well as Hockney’s siblings, John and Margaret.

Each portrait has been created within the specific time frame of three days, which Hockney describes as “a 20-hour exposure”. The portraits are painted on the same size canvas, with each of the subjects seated in the same chair against a neutral background. The portraits provide a remarkable insight into the personality of the sitters, in addition to exploring Hockney’s own development working in the medium of acrylic. The works are hung chronologically with-in the Sackler Galleries to emphasise this development.

Rufus Hale

Hockney set himself a considerable challenge to complete this large body of work. His deep interest in portraiture and its changing role in the history of art are evident as he challenges our perceptions of the value of portraiture in the 21st century.

Born in Bradford in 1937, David Hockney attended Bradford School of Art before studying at the Royal College of Art from 1957 to 1962. Hockney’s reputation was established early, with his work featuring in the Young Contemporaries exhibition in London, 1960 – an exhibition seen as marking the arrival of British Pop Art. He first visited Los Angeles in 1964, settling there in 1979 where he has since produced a large body of work over many decades. In 2012, David Hockney RA: A Bigger Picture, was held in the main galleries of the Royal Academy. Showcasing vivid landscapes of the Yorkshire countryside, this vast show attracted over 600,000 visitors, making it one of the most successful exhibitions in the RA’s history. The exhibition subsequently travelled to the Guggenheim Bilbao and the Museum Ludwig, Cologne.

David Hockney RA: 82 Portraits and 1 Still-life runs at the Sackler Wing at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, the UK, until October 2.

www.royalacademy.org.uk