During the 2020 pandemic, David Hockney was in Normandy in the farmhouse he bought there. People were not allowed to move around, he was in a very tranquil place, and his creativity could be further unleashed. He drew the seasons, the sunset, the river at the bottom of his garden… and had conversations with his friend Martin Gayford, an art critic. This book is the recounting of these dialogues around art, the ever-moving sky, the water and its transparency and movement, and the shades of green and black, … All these reflections put in perspective with other artists and other periods of art history. A gorgeous book to read and to look at.
“Water not only transmits movement in the form of ripples and waves, it is also a medium that affects light, refracting and reflecting it. That’s why Monet had such a huge subject in his water lilies, one that retained his interest for more than twenty-five years. In his garden ponds, he had water to paint, but also the sky, plants, light and darkness, reflected trees and clouds: in a way, the whole world was there. A pool is a natural mirror – French such a decorative tank in a park is known as a miroir d’eau. And so pictures of water are part of a larger category: representions of transparency. Hockney has always described this as a “nice problem” and a “graphic challenge”. A transparent object such as a piece of glass is simultaneously there and not there. You can focus on it as a three-dimensional object, or alternatively you can look through it or contemplate the reflections on its surface. It therefore also has some of the same characteristics as a picture. It is at once both a thing itself, and a medium through which you can view other things.”
