From tablet to canvas, painter David Hockney draws inspiration from Giverny for the 150th anniversary of Impressionism

British impressionist artist, David Hockney is considered the greatest living painter of the 20th century. In 2023, after a visit to Monet’s garden in Giverny, he created his painting “Giverny by DH” using his touchscreen tablet.

In 2023, David Hockney, British impressionist painter, visited Claude Monet’s garden in Giverny, in Eure. On site, he made a sketch using a touchscreen tablet. A sketch that he later took back to his studio to create his painting Giverny by DH. On the occasion of 150 years of impressionism, focus on the work of David Hockney.

David Hockney is fascinated by the changing reflections of light in Normandy. Considered the greatest living painter of the 20th century, the Briton has lived in the Pays d’Auge since 2019. To create this painting, Giverny by DHhe invited himself for a spring day in 2023 in the gardens of the master of impressionism.

Like Claude Monet, David Hockney drew on the pattern, not with a brush, but with his finger, on a light screen.

Indeed, at 86 years old, David Hockney is adept at new technologies and he never separates from his touchscreen tablet. For him, the tool is not a simple gadget, but allows him to have a new pictorial approach. The tablet serves as a sketchbook with infinite memory.

So, back in his studio, David Hockney transposed the drawing of the tablet onto a canvas with acrylic paint.

Giverny by DH is divided into two parts: the lower area takes up thirds of the painting, because the painter is captivated by the reflection of the water. Thus, the water lily pond serves as a mirror, which is reminiscent of the series of swimming pools in California that made David Hockney famous in the 1970s.

As for the colors, they are very bright here, almost Pop Art. The water lilies are yellow, the pink and apple green trees, the sky is one bright blue.

Furthermore, beyond the omnipresence of water, the touch impressionist is very present, because David Hockney claims his parentage with Monet. He who spent most of his career under the burning sun of Los Angeles has rediscovered since his return to Europe, there at 20 years, the passage of the seasons.

With this painting David Hockney dialogues with his master.

Béatrice Rabelle, journalist

With wonder, he paintsnot Normandy, like Monet, the changing light of time.

Currently headlining David Hockney Normandism, an exhibition at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Rouen, this painting, Giverny by DH, combines both impressionism and culture, with the entire history of the city of Giverny behind it, intimately linked to Monet.

To pay tribute to the 150 years of the Impressionist movement, France 3 Normandie invites you to discover or rediscover fascinating paintings that are part of this pictorial movement.

Episodes of L’Envers du Tableau can be found every Sunday on our France.tv platform.