Tate curator on Hockney the painter: ‘He lacks skill’
A brilliant draughtsman, but at 80 the much-loved artist still has room for improvement, says expert
HE MAY be Britain’s most beloved living artist, selling out blockbuster exhibitions with new works into his 80s. But David Hockney still has room for improvement when it comes to painting, according to Chris Stephens, former head of displays at Tate and curator of its latest Hockney exhibition.
He says the artist is not “terribly highly skilled” as a painter, with recent portraits being rather rushed.
Hockney’s landscapes, he said, were much stronger than his portraits, noting his famous three-day sittings could perhaps do with more time.
Speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, in celebration of Hockney’s 80th birthday, Dr Stephens gave an extraordinarily honest appraisal of his work. The curator’s own Hockney exhibition, the artist’s first retrospective in 29 years, became Tate Britain’s most popular exhibition earlier this year, with 478,082 visitors.
The Royal Academy’s 2016 show, entitled 82 Portraits and 1 Still-life, was also a blockbuster.
The exhibition saw Hockney offer new works, completed in Los Angeles over the past few years and with the subjects each sitting in the same chair against a vivid blue background for three days while he painted them.
In discussion with Will Gompertz, the BBC’S arts editor, and Bruno Wollheim,
‘I don’t know why, the landscapes seem much stronger than the portraits’
a documentary maker, Dr Stephens said: “I think there’s distinction in the more recent work, which are always more quickly painted, than the early work, which when he was first using acrylic was very hard won. Consequently, I don’t know why, the landscapes seem much stronger than the portraits.” Referring to Hockney’s three-day portraits, he said: “There were a few – maybe more than a few – where you thought, ‘Well, maybe another day wouldn’t have been a bad idea’. Earlier portraits... were more considered compositionally.”
He added: “I don’t think he’s a terribly highly skilled craftsman when it comes to painting. I mean he is one of the most brilliant draughtsmen of all time probably, but the painting is less accomplished.”
Dr Stephens, who has now been appointed director of The Holburne Mu- seum in Bath, said Hockney’s appeal lay partly in his accessibility, with “joy” at the heart of what he does.
“He’s been incredibly popular from very early on,” he said. “There are lots of depths of this work, but it has always seemed very accessible; very visually alluring and attractive.
“At the heart of everything he does is drawing, and I think there’s a graphic clarity about everything he does. He is a great lover of life, so everything he does is a celebratory affirmative thing.
“The most ordinary things he turns into something really beautiful.”