David Hockney is defying the odds—and his own expectations—with the opening of his largest-ever exhibition, David Hockney 25, at the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris, per bbc.com.
The 88-year+old British art legend, clad in a houndstooth suit and his signature yellow glasses, greeted the milestone with his trademark throaty chuckle, a sound seasoned by decades of smoking. “I thought I wouldn’t be here,” he told BBC Culture and Media Editor Katie Razzall, laughing again. “We made it!”
Hockney’s journey from a mocked Bradford art student in the 1950s to a global icon is now on vivid display across four floors and 11 rooms of the stunning glass-walled museum. The show, running through August 31, celebrates the past 25 years of his career—a period he contrasts with the gloom of 1925’s post-war world. “People think it’s miserable now,” he said, “but I’ve always thought it was an absurd world.” That optimism shines through in a kaleidoscope of bright colours and joyful works, from his iconic A Bigger Splash (1967) to the record-breaking Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), which fetched £70m in 2018.
The heart of the exhibition lies in Hockney’s lockdown creations: 220 iPad paintings from 2020, capturing spring’s bloom in Normandy. Floor-to-ceiling blossoms burst from the walls, paired with his pandemic message: “Do remember they can’t cancel the spring.” These digital marvels, some blown up to massive scale, sit alongside his largest oil canvas, Bigger Trees near Warter (2007), and recent portraits, including one of Harry Styles in a striped cardigan and pearls.
Frail but feisty, Hockney still paints four to six hours daily, a cigarette often in hand—his badge reading “End Bossiness Soon” a jab at naysayers. “I’m a happy smoker,” he grinned, shrugging off health warnings. His latest self-portrait, Play within a Play within a Play with a Cigarette (2024-25), nods to his twin passions: art and defiance. His two carers, depicted in new works, hover nearby, having escorted him from London with his dachshund, Tess, for this triumph.
Hockney’s great-nephew Richard, a frequent muse, beamed at the opening. “He’s glowing,” he said. “This will keep him going for a long time.” The artist agrees, already plotting his next painting—of Richard, naturally. “I’ll carry on,” he vowed, dismissing retirement. Even a visit from King Charles, whom he found “thoughtful,” won’t sway him to paint royalty. “The majesty’s a bit difficult,” he mused.
From Yorkshire hawthorns to California pools, Hockney’s work is a testament to looking closely and laughing at life. “Anybody with a little visual sensibility will enjoy this,” he promised. As Paris blooms this spring, so does Hockney—proving, at 88, he’s still splashing onto the canvas of history.
- Featured image: Hockney at work at the Royal College of Art in 1962/Geoffrey Reeve/BRidgeman Art Library
