A master of light, colour, and perspective, the late David Hockney's work transcended the ordinary. He beckoned viewers into a world where interiors and exteriors very much formed the subject of his compositions. Here are 6 ways to weave his style into your home.
David Hockney's work ranged from minimalist, monochromatic etchings to his more radiant, vibrant swimming pools.
Seeing the world through his eyes offered a canvas of endless imagination and expression.
The painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer was an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s and was considered one of the most influential British artists of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Here are some ways to weave his keen eye for colour and composition into your home.
Making a splash
His 1960s and 1970s swimming pool series, inspired by a move to California in 1964, captured the variations and texture of water.
Their saturated colour, illustrated by this interpretation, which was printed onto canvas and framed, distils the sun-soaked compositions into a composite that will be easy to house in most interiors.
Measuring about 163 cm by 102 cm, it is available to buy on Etsy for about €89, excluding delivery.
England also had a place
The “gothic doom”, as Hockney described his early years in Bradford, England, also deeply affected his work.
His love of water extended beyond the saturated shades of the swimming pool series. In these, there were many rainscapes and dull, overcast days.
He was as fascinated by interiors and exteriors, the landscape and the furnishings within.
Recreate some of those classic compositions with Hay’s Palissade cantilever dining armchair, which has some flex as well as arm support, encouraging long, lazy al fresco lunches. Prices from €519, excluding delivery.
Observations within art
Many of Hockney’s pieces capture everyday vignettes.
While most of Hockney’s work, upon his passing, will reach stratospheric pricing, you can evoke the artist’s keen eye for such compositions with this abstract print.
Set within an interior, it features everyday furnishings in a rose, maroon, mustard and cream colour palette that is Hockney-esque.
By HK living, it costs €695, excluding delivery, and is available from April and the Bear.
Spring greens and reds
This Dublin 4 residence by interior designer Julianne Kelly, whose eponymous shop is on Morehampton Road in Donnybrook, Dublin 4, has a Hockneyesque eye for colour and pattern play.
The work on this Dublin 4 project is viewed through a celadon green hall and into the kitchen, where the units are painted a deep marsala shade.
The two Sanderson shades, Fountain Green and Amanpuri Red, one of two paint collections she stocks, evoke the shades used in Hockney’s 2011 work, The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire.
Portrait of an artist
This portrait by artist Peter Blake of his friend David Hockney is typically Blake.
The composition recalls a glossy magazine spread, blurring the lines between fine and popular art forms.
Blake painted both Hockney and the figure behind him from photographs, a method which alludes to Hockney’s own work, for which he sourced images from magazines.
Printed in poster formats, it comes in four different sizes, starting from about A3, which costs about €35, excluding delivery, from Tate Modern’s web shop.
A Year in Normandie using iPad
During Covid Hockney continued his close observations of the world around him by producing over a hundred digital paintings on his iPad.
The format of A Year in Normandie was inspired by Chinese scroll paintings as well as the eleventh-century Bayeux Tapestry.
Hockney's digital painting tools allowed him to capture the essence of each scene, en plein air.
The show, currently at London’s Serpentine Gallery, includes stylish pieces to buy, including this hand-poured fine bone China vase with five-layer silkscreen.
Finished by Duchess China 1888, in the heart of Stoke-on-Trent, by master artisans, its hay bale scene costs about €1.478, excluding delivery from the gallery’s web shop.
