David Hockney
PAPER POOL, 1980
ithograph in colors, on Arches Cover paper
10 1/2 x 9 in
26.7 x 22.9 cm
Special Proof
Available at VFA
Do remember they can't cancel the Spring. - David Hockney
David Hockney is 87, gets around in a wheelchair, has around-the-clock medical care and still made it to his retrospective at the Foundation Louis Vuitton in Paris.
Hockney participated in curating the David Hockney 25 exhibit, suggesting wall colors and placement of artworks. More than 400 works, from 1955 through 2025 are on view, and fill the entire building. Many of his iconic paintings have been borrowed from the Tate and other major museums for the retrospective.
"This exhibition means an enormous amount," said Hockney, "because it is the largest exhibition I've ever had - 11 rooms in the Fondation Louis Vuitton. Some of the very last paintings I'm working on now will be included in it, and I think it's going to be very good."
Hockney said that he wants viewers to feel, "Joy, real joy" when they see his work.The words "Do remember they can't cancel Spring" are written, bright pink neon, on the entrance to the budding in Hockney's handwriting.
He traveled by car from his London studio to Paris, with his dachshund, Tess, in one car and his doctor in another.
Hockney was born in Bradford, England in 1937 and spent decades in Los Angeles, where he did his iconic swimming pool paintings. In 2019 he relocated to Normandy, because he said that he wanted to live in a place where he would, "be able to smoke and eat in a restaurant at the same time." He created many beautiful work at the 17th-century farmhouse in the Pays d'Auge countryside during the pandemic and then returned to London.
Ironically, an advertisement poster of the show has been banned from the Paris Metro because it shows Hockney painting a self portrait, holding a crayon in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Advertisements featuring tobacco or other nicotine products are not permitted to be displayed in the Paris Metro. Hockney called the decision to ban the poster, "complete madness."
David Hockney 25 is on view at the Louis Vuitton Foundation through August 31, 2025
References:
Eleanor Stanford. David Hockney Wants His Biggest Ever Show to Bring You Joy. The New York Times. April 3, 2025.
Philip Oltermann. A mutual love affair: David Hockney 25 retrospective makes a splash in Paris. The Guardian. April 4, 2025.
Grace Clark. David Hockney Takes Over Fondation Louis Vuitton in Landmark Exhibition. L'Officiel.USA. April 7, 2025.
Rhea Nayyar. Paris Metro Bans David Hockney Exhibition Ad Over a Cigarette. Hyperallergic. April 7, 2025.
