David Hockney has completed his largest painting to date, a 314-foot (95 meters) frieze inspired by his year in lockdown. The frieze, which depicts a year in Normandy, was inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry. For many, the 2020 lockdowns, however unwelcome, provided an opportunity to reflect on their daily surroundings and discover a newfound appreciation for nature.
David Hockney, who spent the year at his Normandy home, used his iPad to observe and record the changing seasons. He has now printed and stitched all 220 images into a 314-foot-long (95 meters) continuous frieze, his largest work to date. A Year in Normandie is on display for the first time in the United Kingdom, in the attic space of Salts Mill in Saltaire, West Yorkshire, near Bradford. The form of the work was inspired by a Chinese scroll painting Hockney saw at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 1983. He recalled that it was approximately 98 feet long and was displayed for me in a private room. It was one of the craziest days of my life."
The artist's residence in Normandy, where he has lived since 2019, also reminded him of the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the Norman Conquest in dramatic detail. Hockney stated that he hopes "the viewer... will walk past his work]like the Bayeux Tapestry, and I hope they will experience the year in Normandy in one picture."
The exhibition "A Year in Normandie" will be on display until September 18, 2022, at the Salts Mill, Victoria Road, Saltaire in the UK.
Selena Mattei