David Hockney: Drawing from Life

Description

This book, which accompanies the first major exhibition devoted to David Hockney's drawings inover 20 years,will explore Hockney as a draughtsman from the 1950s to now, with a focus on himself, his family and friends. From Ingres to the iPad -this book demonstrates the artist's ingenuity in portrait drawing with reference to both tradition and technology. David Hockney is recognised as one of the master draughtsmen of our times and a champion of the medium. This book will feature Hockney's work from the 1950s to now and focus on his depictions of himself and a smaller group of sitters close to him: his muse, Celia Birtwell; his mother, Laura Hockney; and his friends, the curator, Gregory Evans, and master printer, Maurice Payne. This book will examine not only how drawing is fundamental to Hockney's distinctive way of observing the world around him, but also how it has been a testing ground for ideas and modes of expression later played out in his paintings. From Old Masters to modern masters, from Holbein to Picasso, Hockney's portrait drawings reveal his admiration for his artistic predecessors and his continuous stylistic experimentation throughout his career. Alongside an in-depth essay from the curator, this book will feature an exclusive interview between author and curator, Sarah Howgate, and artist, David Hockney. In addition, an 'In Focus' essay by British Museum curator Isabel Seligman, will explore the relationship between Hockney, Ingres and Picasso drawings.

Sarah Howgate is Senior Curator of Contemporary Collections at the National Portrait Gallery. Her previous exhibitions and publications include David Hockney Portraits (2006), Lucian Freud Portraits (2012), Friendship Portraits: Chantel Joffe and Isabel Myserscough 2015), Gillian Wearing and Claude Cahun: Behind the Mask, Another Mask (2017) and Tacita Dean: PORTRAIT(2018). Isabel Seligman is the Bridget Riley Art Foundation Curator at the British Museum. Her previous exhibitions and publications include Lines of Thought: Drawing from Rembrandt to Now (2016) and Pushing Paper: Contemporary Drawing from 1970 to Now (2019).

'Those of you who can't make the trip [to the National Portrait Gallery] can indulge in this fabulous accompanying book' - Daily Mail