David Hockney's New Paintings Pay Tribute to His Carers
- 1 hour ago
- 2 min read
The artist, one of Britain’s greatest modern artists, has in recent years suffered a decline in health, but will exhibit portraits of his full-time carers later this year.
“I have always believed that art should be a deep pleasure,” Hockney said. “There is always, everywhere, an enormous amount of suffering, but I believe that my duty as an artist is to overcome and alleviate the sterility of despair… New ways of seeing mean new ways of feeling... I do believe that painting can change the world.”
Despite his decline in health, he is continuing to paint and recent portraits of Thomas Mupfupi, one of his carers, and Jack Ransome, who makes his glasses, will feature in the exhibition.
Hans Ulrich Obrist, artistic director of London's Serpentine Gallery, where the exhibition will be staged, said: “At 88, David Hockney continues to explore the language of painting with remarkable ingenuity, fusing figurative and abstract modes across still lifes, portraits, and a panoramic frieze comprising more than 100 iPad paintings. In his new portraits, he captures not only his sitters but also the very act of seeing, while the frieze offers a deeply personal meditation on the passage of time.”
Click to enlarge | All images courtesy of David Hockney
Bettina Korek, Serpentine’s chief executive, added: “David Hockney’s work invites us to slow down, to look closely, and to reconnect with the world around us.”
In addition to portraits of his carers, the show will also include paintings of members of hi family, plus some still life paintings. Also on display will be a printed mural of the garden of the artist’s 17th century home in Normandy, France, which he produced digitally on an iPad. In total, the exhibit will comprise of five still lifes and five portraits.
After living in Los Angeles, Hockney purchased the Normandy property in 2019 and returned to Britain in 2024. He has not disclosed details of his health problems.
In 2018, Mr Hockney's 1972 work Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) was noted as the highest price ever paid at auction for a painting - at $90.3million - by a living artist at the time of selling.