Dear Mr Hackney...
What art curator called unknown young painter pushing for first break
AS one of the most influential British artists of the 20th century, David Hockney has the art world at his feet.
But 82-year-old’s rise to the top appears to have had something of a shaky start – thanks to the indifference of a snooty curator.
In 1960, when Hockney was an unknown 23-year-old Royal College of Art student, he invited Helen Kapp, curator of the Wakefield Art Gallery, to view a show he was putting on in Skipton, North Yorkshire.
However, after addressing him as ‘Mr Hackney’, she continued the slight by fobbing him off with the excuse that she had no car and did not fancy taking the bus, according to their recently unearthed correspondence.
The letters were found in the archives of the gallery, which is now a school, during research for an exhibition of Hockney’s work at the contemporary Hepworth Wakefield gallery.
Abi Shapiro, who is curating the show, told The Observer it shed light on Hockney’s entrepreneurial spirit, adding: ‘We were surprised by the confidence with which he writes.’
The new exhibition, which runs from Friday until January 19, will bring together paintings and works on paper by Hockney and his artistic hero Alan Davie, many of which have not been seen publicly for decades.
Hockney attended a talk by Davie at the Wakefield Gallery in 1958 – an encounter that transformed his artistic vision. He abandoned realist figurative painting – as Davie had – and moved to London to create vibrant abstract work.
Simon Wallis, director of The Hepworth Wakefield, said the exhibition would ‘explore the creative journeys of two of the most remarkable British painters through a selection of their early works’.
He claimed it would ‘shine a light on the ambitious curatorial foresight of Wakefield Art Gallery’, adding: ‘The gallery helped boost Davie’s career by organising a pivotal show that played a part in motivating a young David Hockney to develop his artistic voice.’