It’s the people that artist David Hockney didn’t paint that make him stand out (he once turned down a request from the Queen); instead sketching portraits of friends, lovers and artists.
Which is probably why the National Gallery of Australia holds more than 1,000 of his works (the most of an international artist) – 50 of which are now on display.
Canberra had great foresight because back in the ‘70s (before our gallery was even built), the NGA’s inaugural director began buying Hockney’s work and storing it at a Fyshwick storage depot.
What the NGA didn’t foresee with this latest Hockney exhibition, is that the artist passed away in June, only adding to its value.
To give you an idea of Hockney’s significance, Paris has just held a major retrospective exhibition at the Louis Vuitton Museum (for which the NGA loaned a significant piece to).
Now Canberra is showcasing 50 of his portraits spanning 30 years, for free.
Hockney wasn’t interested in fame or celebrity – he never made portraits as commissions – yet he became one of the most celebrated artists of the 20th and 21st centuries.
NGA director Dr Nick Mitzevich said the gallery had been collecting Hockney for more than 50 years.
“These prints give you a great insight into how intimacy and relationships are an important part of Hockney’s practice,” he said.
“As we celebrate Hockney now after passing away in June this spring, just one month shy of his 89th birthday, today is an important moment to reflect on such an important contribution that Hockney made to art.”
Until now, the NGA hasn’t explored the importance of portraits to Hockney’s life and art.
Head Curator of International Art Magda Keaney said the NGA’s holdings were so comprehensive (largest in the Southern Hemisphere), that they “enabled this survey, which very few collections around the world could sustain”.
“His portraits of friends, lovers and his artistic community offer a compelling insight into his life and art,” she said.
“The exhibition has been a number of years in the making and while it was not conceived to be a posthumous tribute to David’s life, we’re extremely honoured that it can be experienced as such, in close proximity to his passing in June this year.
“It is above all a celebration of the undiminished, and in many ways unfathomable, creative drive and vision of David Hockney.”
The exhibition covers Hockney’s autobiographical etchings made in 1961 through to his series of Friends, Family and Lovers in the ‘70s, the moving focus work of the 1980s showing his love of Picasso and colour, to the iPad works from 2012, which has never before been seen in Australia.
“You wouldn’t be an artist unless you want to share and experience a thought. I am constantly preoccupied with how to remove distance so that we can all begin to sense we are all the same” – David Hockney.
David Hockney: Portraits in Print is free to visit and on display at the National Gallery until 9 May 2027. Visit: nga.gov.au
