Garrowby Hill by David Hockney - Essay Example

Garrowby Hill” by David Hockney In this essay I will discuss the life and works of British artist David Hockney, keeping the main focus on the canvas “Garrowby Hill”, which is displayed on the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts. I have chosen this canvas as it depicts in a very lively way a landscape of Yorkshire, England. This painting is a celebration of Nature, a celebration of Life in its ultimate interpretation. It shows Garrowby Hill as seen from above. The curved street gives a sense of joyous sensuality to the whole scene. It is vivid scenery with colorful trees, curvy lines, open space, geometrical figures, nice mixture of harmonious colors, and excellent composition. It is really a hedonist canvas every inch of its surface. Our eyes can’t get away the winding road that seems to be moving by itself. The sense of movement is present in all the canvas as its dynamic composition suggests. The vibrant colors give life to the painting, and we feel a joyous vibration of optimism when we stare quietly at “Garrowby Hill” by David Hockney. The blue curved street on the foreground goes happily deep into the background where we lose sight of it. There is a lonely pine tree at the left side of the foreground. On the other side there is a line of trees going along the road. The geometrical fields are intelligently placed. Green is the predominant color as it is the color of Nature. But coloring in this painting has a deliberate sense of humor, of sensuality, springing from a free-spirited soul. It is obvious that this is not a realist canvas as its coloring and its imagery are a product of the artist’s imagination along a more interpretative line of painting. David Hockney (Childs and Storry 256) was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, England, in 1937. He is a painter, draftsman, printmaker, photographer, and designer. He attended Bradford School of Art from 1953 to 1959. Later on he was an outstanding student at the Royal College of Art, where he studied from 1959 to 1962. At the beginning of his career, he used to do abstract painting, but after that period he endeavored himself in a more figurative kind of painting. In the sixties he was considered to be a pop artist. Chilvers gives the following account about it: “Hockney himself disliked the label Pop, but his work of this time makes many references to popular culture (notably in the use of graffiti-like lettering) and is often jokey in mood.” (Chilvers 283). After his first solo exhibition in England in 1963, Hockney traveled to Los Angeles, United States, where he further established his permanent residency in 1976. Since the beginning of his career as an artist “Hockney has repeatedly demonstrated an insatiable curiosity for exploring new styles and mediums through a subjective collage-like approach actualized in his later post-cubist fascination with perspectival art, involving photo-collages, fax, photocopier and computerized images.” (Childs and Storry 257). Indeed Hockney has been very active and creative at the same time throughout his life. He is well known thanks to portraits, homoeroticism, swimming pools, mirrors, landscapes, and still-lifes. Childs and Storry state the following about the quality of his works: “Despite his Los Angeles residency. Hockney arguably remains the most acclaimed British artist alive, his work perhaps criticized for its stylistic hollowness but celebrated for its inventive, fearless artistic explorations of contradictory preoccupations.” (Childs and Storry 257). On the other hand, Chilvers ponders his career in the following terms: “His phenomenal success has been based not only on the flair and versatility of his work, but also on his colourful personality, which has made him a recognizable figure even to people not particularly interested in art--so much so that a film about him, A Bigger Splash ( 1974), enjoyed some popularity in the commercial cinema.” (Chilvers 282). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists considers the autobiographical aspect of Hockney’s art as follows: “Hockney often paints the people and places he knows best (his art is frequently autobiographical) and has memorably celebrated his romance with Los Angeles (…) particularly in his many paintings featuring swimming pools ( A Bigger Splash, Tate Gallery, London, 1967).” (The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists 244). As we can see, Hockney has been very successful in being greatly appreciated by the critics during his lifetime. During the 1970’s (Chilvers 283) Hockney acted as stage designer with the set and costume designs for Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress and Mozart’s The Magic Flute. He also did etched illustrations to Cavafy’s Poems and Six Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm. In the 1980’s he worked on photography. In the 1990’s he worked on painting the Californian scenery with an abstract touch. One of his most famous works of art is the collage on the Grand Canyon. Hockney is also a commentator on Art. He has published the books on his works entitled “David Hockney” (1976) and “That’s The Way I See It” (1993). Hockney is really a very talented artist. He is able to work in different areas of Art. Being a painter and a writer at the same time is indeed remarkable. One important aspect of his life is the fact that he has been acclaimed as a celebrity. Hockney got the gold medal after graduating at the Royal College of Art. He’s been famous all his life. His draftsmanship has given him a lot of success in the world of the Fine Arts. His experiments with photography, fax, photocopiers, etc. have been very successful as well. Taking into account his expertise in the Arts, it is not a surprise that he has achieved great goals. His painting “Garrowby Hill” is on display at the Museum of Fine Arts, in Boston, Massachusetts, as a homage to his masterful vision of Arts. It is a hedonistic, joyous celebration of Nature, but most importantly it is a celebration of Life when we ponder its meanings on a larger scale of thought. Works Cited Childs, Peter, and Mike Storry, eds. Encyclopedia of Contemporary British Culture. London: Routledge, 1999. Questia. 24 Feb. 2006 . Chilvers, Ian. A Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Art. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. Questia. 24 Feb. 2006 . Hockney, David. “Garrowby Hill”. (1998). Contemporary Art Collection. In Museum of Fine Arts. Boston, Massachusetts. 23 February, 2006. . The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists. Ed. Ian Chilvers. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. Questia. 24 Feb. 2006 . Read More