Royal Academy of Arts
David Hockney: The Arrival of Spring, Normandy, 2020

What is one of the world’s most important artists doing during lockdown? In the spring of 2020, while the first wave of Covid-19 was sweeping across Europe, at his home in Normandy David Hockney, over 80, did not look inward, into the life of his soul. Instead, he looked out into nature, meticulously recording on his iPad the development of spring, how colors and shapes changed, how everything began to grow. This was not the first time that Hockney “painted” digitally. But it is a very personal series that gives tangible expression to his credo, “love life.”

In the exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, one of Deutsche Bank’s ArtCard partner museums, the paintings are shown in the order of their creation. It is a visual diary that literally grows, turns green, and becomes denser as spring progresses—an ode to constant renewal and the cycle of life.

David Hockney:
The Arrival of Spring, Normandy, 2020
May 23 – September 26, 2021
Royal Academy of Arts, London