Artists & Illustrators - UK (2020-03)

DAVID HOCKNEY

ABOVE David

Hockney, No. 1201,

14 March 2012,

iPad drawing

TOPRIGHTDavid

Hockney,Celia,

Carennac,

colouredpencilon

paper,43x35.5cm

were “marvellous” at “was making

beautiful marks: Picasso can’t

make a bad mark, Dufy makes

beautiful marks, Matisse makes

beautiful marks”. So, one might

add, does Hockney.

For him, then, drawing is physical

and manual, yet also fundamental –

a form of thought as much as a skill.

Toanextent,Hockneybelieves,

it canbetaught.“I thinkanawful

lotofpeopleliketodraw.I’malways

meetingpeoplewhodrawa bit

crudely,andI pointoutthatwhat’s

neededis a bitofpractice.Youneed

thingspointedouttoyou.”This

involvesmuchmorethanmanual

skill,thoughobviouslyHockneyhas

thosetoanextraordinaryextent.

Theartistis a virtuosooflines,and

everyconceivablemannerofmaking

them.Hecertainlydoesnotdespise

techniqueandskillinusingit.Onthe

contrary,heinsists,“theuseofthe

handis a deeplysatisfyingthing.

Anyonewhomakesmodelsknows

that;anyonewhogardensdoes,too.

Ornamentinarchitecturecan’tcome

backthesedaysbecausethereare

nocraftsmen.WhenAdolfLoossaid

ornamentis crime,hemadecriminals

ofhonestcraftsmen.”

However,Hockneybelieves

thatlearningtodrawwellrequires

somethinginadditiontopracticeand

dexterity:thedisciplineoflooking.

“TheteachersatBradford[Schoolof

Art,wherehestudiedinthe1950s]

taughtustolookhardatthings:

howtoseeina clearerway.”

Eventhis,headds,is notquite

enough.“Youcanteachthecraft,

thepoetryyoucan’tteach.”

Whenatwork,witha subjectsuch

asa stilllifeinfrontofhim,Hockney

hasconfessedhegetsveryexcited:
“I realisetherearea thousandthings
hereI cansee!WhichwillI choose?
ThemoreI lookatthemandthink
aboutit,themorethesesimplelittle
thingsseemunbelievablyrich.
“Alotofpeoplehaveforgottenthat,
orcan’tdoit.Butyoucanremind
them.It’sjusttemporary,butmost
thingsaretemporary.”
DavidHockney:DrawingfromLiferuns
from 27 Februaryto 28 Juneatthe
NationalPortraitGallery,LondonWC2.
A neweditionofA HistoryofPicturesby
DavidHockneyandMartinGayfordwill
bepublishedin FebruarybyThames&
© DAVID HOCKNEY. PHOTO CREDITS: RICHARD SCHMIDT. COLLECTION THE DAVID HOCKNEY FOUNDATION Hudson.www.hockney.com