The largest exhibition dedicated to David Hockney will begin in Paris

David Hockney also continues to explore portraiture, with a series of 60 works which include self-portraits, portraits of his loved ones, but also portraits of flowers taken on an iPad. The artist, a pioneer in the use of new technologies, challenges conventions with 25th June 2022, Looking at the Flowers (Framed) (2022), where digital drawings are framed according to the traditional codes of painted canvases, creating a tension between past and present.

The galleries dedicated to Normandy (galleries 5 to 7) present another facet of this period, with works created on iPad in the series 220 for 2020where the artist captures the subtleties of light variations and seasonal changes. Alongside these digital works, acrylic paintings and ink drawings enrich the experience, creating a dialogue between traditional and modern techniques.

A dialogue with history

By continuing his exploration of the great masters of art history, Hockney renews his dialogue with European painting, from the Renaissance to modernism. The artist is inspired by the painters of the first Renaissance and the Flemish masters, but also by figures like Van Gogh, Cézanne, and even Picasso. These influences are particularly present in the series of reproductions that he presents on the top floor of the exhibition, as well as in the installations which, like his collaborations with the world of opera, combine visual art and music.

An intimate and poetic conclusion

The exhibition closes on a more intimate note, with recent works painted in London since David Hockney resided there. These more enigmatic paintings are inspired by figures like Edvard Munch and William Blake. After Munch: Less is Known than People Think (2023) et After Blake: Less is Known than People Think (2024) invite the viewer on a journey between astronomy, history, geography and spirituality. The artist’s very last self-portrait finds its place there, marking the end of this immersion in the world of a man always in search of renewal, innovation and beauty.

David Hockney, 25 at the Louis Vuitton Foundation is much more than a retrospective. It is a journey through seven decades of creation, a celebration of the inventiveness and ability of an artist to always reinvent himself, to nourish himself with new technologies while remaining faithful to his love of traditional techniques and nature. A monumental exhibition, resonating with the perennial nature of spring, this symbol of renewal to which Hockney often referred, and which, according to him, “cannot be canceled”.

David Hockney, 25. From April 9 to September 1, 2025. Louis Vuitton Foundation. 8 Av. du Mahatma Gandhi, 75116 Paris.