David Hockney: the artist's largest retrospective exhibition at the Fondation Louis Vuitton

Published by Audrey de Sortiraparis · Photos by Audrey de Sortiraparis · Published on January 15, 2025 at 02:16 p.m.
The Fondation Louis Vuitton presents "David Hockney, 25 - Do remember they can't cancel the Spring", the largest retrospective ever dedicated to the contemporary artist, from April 9 to September 1, 2025. More than 400 works - oil paintings, ink drawings, video installations and digital works - offer an immersion into the abundant universe of Hockney, whose palette is as radiant as spring!

From April 9 to September 1, 2025, the Fondation Louis Vuitton presents David Hockney - Do remember they can't cancel the Spring, the largest retrospective exhibition ever devoted to the artist. Featuring over 400 works spanning seven decades (1955 to 2025), this lavish exhibition explores the creative garden of an iconic artist who cultivates art as a fertile ground for innovation.

A bouquet of works, from Bradford to Normandy

Every nook and cranny of the Fondation blossoms under David Hockney'svibrant colors and lush landscapes: oil paintings, charcoal drawings, video installations, digital works created on iPhone and iPad... An unprecedented anthology brought together thanks to loans from international collections and treasures from the artist's studio. Under the guidance of Hockney and his collaborators Jean-Pierre Gonçalves de Lima and Jonathan Wilkinson, each room has been designed as an artistic clearing in which to venture.

From the pool to the great outdoors

The exhibition begins in full bloom, during his early years between Bradford, London and sunny California, with cult works dating from 1950-1970. On the museum's ground floor, A Bigger Splash (1967) and Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) (1972), celebrate the iconic pool theme, alongside two other major paintings from his series of double portraits: Mr. and Mrs. Clark and Percy (1970-1971) and Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy (1968), capturing intimate relationships.

Then, in the 1980s-1990s, nature took root in David Hockney's work with flamboyant landscapes and explosive chromatic fields, such as A Bigger Grand Canyon (1998).

Nature galore, flowers 2.0 and portraits

The heart of the exhibition revolves around the last 25 years of Hockney's creative output. Back in Yorkshire, Hockney transforms a simple hawthorn bush into a cheerful, flashy ode to spring (May Blossom on the Roman Road, 2009) and signs a monumental forest with Bigger Trees Near Warter or/and Peinture sur le Motif pour le Nouvel Âge Post-Photographique (2007), on loan from London's Tate.

At the same time, some sixty intimate acrylic portraits - of people close to the artist or self-portraits - are revealed, as well as digital "flower portraits" framed like modern herbariums (25th June 2022, Looking at the Flowers (Framed)). Each of these creations bears witness to Hockney's ability to pollinate his art with new technologies.

Normandy, the promised land

On the second floor, Hockney takes us on a bucolic journey to Normandy, where he captures the changing light of the seasons. The iPad-based series 220 for 2020 illuminates gallery 5, while in gallery 6, acrylic paintings of undulating skies recall Van Gogh. Nestled in the next gallery, the twenty-four ink drawings of La Grande Cour (2019), dialogue with the Bayeux Tapestry.

A summit finish

The exhibition culminates on the top floor with a series of reproductions celebrating the masters of European painting, from Antiquity to modern art, via the early Renaissance and the Flemish painters. Fra Angelico, Cézanne, Van Gogh, Picasso... all have inspired Hockney's works, revealed in this gallery-studio transformed into a dance and music room. In Galerie 10, the artist, who is passionate aboutopera, brings together his works on the theme of the stage in a polyphonic, musical and visual staging, in collaboration with 59 Studio.

Finally, gallery 11 unveils recent works inspired by Edvard Munch and William Blake. Astronomy, history and geography mingle with spirituality in enigmatic canvases such as After Munch: Less is Known than People Think (2023) and After Blake: Less is Known than People Think (2024).

In this springtime stroll, David Hockney invites you to take root in his world. So, are you ready for this unique moment?

Practical information

Dates and Opening Time
From April 9, 2025 to September 1, 2025

× Approximate opening times: to confirm opening times, please contact the establishment.

    Location

    8 Avenue du Mahatma Gandhi
    75116 Paris 16

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    1 station Les Sablons

    Prices
    Tarif -3 ans: Free
    Tarif -18 ans: €5
    Tarif -26 ans et Étudiants: €10
    Plein Tarif: €16

    Official website
    www.fondationlouisvuitton.fr

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