David Hockney is one of the greatest living Englishman and I love him, even if he can’t paint hands.His hands always look clunky.
This collection of his portraits at the National Portrait Gallery is fantastic and it’s worth paying £9 just to see his coloured crayon sketch of Andy Warhol in Paris.
When I saw it I smiled. And when I looked at it again I laughed out loud.
“He’s got him!” I said. “He’s really nailed him !”
It’s an affectionate crayon sketch of Andy sitting in a chair and his face is just fabulous, the face of an androgynous, sexless skeleton.
The portraits are of his friends and family, in roughly chronological order, starting with his Mum, then his Mum and Dad, and one of his brother, done when he was a teenager in Bradford.
I don’t really care for the 16 sketches of The Rake’s Progress, his account of a young gay man’s first visit to New York, which Jan recalled seeing at the Whitworth in Manchester thirty years ago. But the way he has drawn himself is clever and funny and very relaxed, the work of a draughtsman who can take a line for a walk without losing his sense of humour.
His muse Celia Birtwell has a very soulful face and one painting of her and designer Ossie Clark is huge and was worked on for a whole year. Ossie’s hair is perfect. I used to know loads of youngish men whose hair was just like that in the early Seventies.
The exhibition finishes on the 21st, so if you fancy it, you’ve got three days. I gather you now have to book online and choose the slot when you arrive.
A warm, wise human being, Hockney makes me proud to be English – and I don’t say that about many people. His hands may be clunky but his tulips are great and he’s good at bottoms too.
PS : Living in London, odd little things happen which would not happen in other British cities.
This morning I get an email from Ian Grant :
I took Philippa to see the Hockney. She loved it. The next day I was in the gym and I talked to the director of the National Portrait Gallery.
I said: “My partner loved the Hockney. She said it inspired her to think of projects for her art and design students.”
He said: ” Great, I’ll tell David. He’ll be pleased.”