David Hockney, from Normandy to the Musée de l'Orangerie

Shut-in, but just prior, an important encounter occurred, at the Bayeux museum, with the Tapestry of the Queen Matilde, an almost-70-metre-long masterpiece that tells of the conquering of England by William, Duke of Normandy, in the XI Century. From here, was born the desire of the British painter to open a new chapter in his artistic creation, depicting the arrival of Spring in the form of a narrative series. But just as the artist started the work, in March of 2020, the world stood still, frozen by the pandemia. As life seemed to tumble into an endless lethargy, Hockney uploaded more than one-hundred images onto his iPad in just a few weeks. In the manner of the Impressionists, he masterfully captured the effects of light and climatic change in a vivacious and luminous palette, creating compositions with a pop touch. Days passed and the lockdown ended and Spring gave way to Summer, to Autumn and then Winter. And Hockney translated into art, the passage of an entire year, letting himself draw inspiration from Nature, contemplating his garden and the countryside in front of his house. The exhibition at the Musée de l’Orangerie gathers these creations, presenting the public with the journey of the seasons in the form of a sort of frieze measuring 90 metres. An impassioned anthem to Nature and its renewal.