A Year in Normandie Notebook

While the world came to a halt in the Spring of 2020, Hockney continued his close observations of the world around him by producing over a hundred digital paintings on his iPad, working swiftly and intuitively much like the Impressionists. The format of A Year in Normandie was inspired by Chinese scroll paintings as well as the eleventh-century Bayeux Tapestry. Hockney’s digital painting tools allowed him to capture the essence of each scene, skilfully recording changes in light and weather en plein air. His radiant compositions combine flat areas of bold colour with playful pop-like touches. As the days pass, spring transitions into summer, then autumn and winter.

David Hockney

David Hockney (b. 1937 in Bradford, Yorkshire, UK) is one of the most influential artists of our time. Throughout his seven-decade spanning career, the British artist remains endlessly inventive and committed to celebrating the world around him, epitomised by his signature phrase, “Love Life.” A deep fascination with perspective and a desire to investigate how we see and represent the world led him to explore a range of artistic mediums from painting to photographic collages, set design, drawing and printmaking. Hockney’s use of new technology is an extension of his interest in different modes of capturing reality. From his Polaroid composites to fax machine drawings and, in recent years, his iPad paintings, he seeks to unlock the potential of each technology for the creation of art.