The Artist’s Mother
The large number of portraits Hockney made of his mother attests to the close bond between them. A devout Methodist and strict vegetarian, Laura Hockney (1900−1999) raised her four children with great generosity of spirit. Supportive of her son David’s desire to be an artist, she remained a loyal and patient model who would always sit still for him.
Although Hockney is critical of photography— “A photograph cannot really have layers of time in it the way a painting can, which is why drawn and painted portraits are much more interesting,” he once said—the large portrait that dominates this section was made from photographs. In 1982, Hockney began creating collages with Polaroid prints, which he worked into grids. He eventually went on to create more complex images with irregular edges using 35 mm photographs, such as this portrait of his mother. The influence of Picasso and Cubism is evident in these works, in which he captures simultaneous viewpoints and a narrative that reflects the passage of time. Hockney compared the photocollage pro- cess to a kind of drawing: “I felt these pictures were linear, and that in piecing them together, picture by picture, I was really drawing line, linking them.”
Bradford School of Art 1 (Sketchbook)
David Hockney
David Hockney
Bradford School of Art 1 (Sketchbook), 1953, Page 4
Pencil, ink and wash
The David Hockney Foundation
© David Hockney
Photography by Richard Schmidt
Bradford School of Art 1 (Sketchbook)
David Hockney
Bradford School of Art 1 (Sketchbook), 1953, Page 48
Pencil, ink and wash
The David Hockney Foundation
© David Hockney
Photography by Richard Schmidt
Bradford School of Art 1 (Sketchbook), Page 3
David Hockney
David Hockney
Bradford School of Art 1 (Sketchbook), 1953, Page 36
Pencil, ink and washon
The David Hockney Foundation
© David Hockney
Photography by Richard Schmidt
Bradford School of Art 1 (Sketchbook), Page 52
David Hockney
David Hockney
Bradford School of Art 1 (Sketchbook), 1953, Page 52
Pencil, ink and wash
The David Hockney Foundation
© David Hockney
Photography by Richard Schmidt
Bradford School of Art 1 (Sketchbook), Page 56
David Hockney
David Hockney
Bradford School of Art 1 (Sketchbook), 1953, Page 56
Pencil, ink and wash
The David Hockney Foundation
© David Hockney
Photography by Richard Schmidt
Mother, Paris
David Hockney
Mother, Paris, 1972
Colored pencil on paper
The David Hockney Foundation
© David Hockney
Photography by Richard Schmidt
Study for "My Parents and Myself"
While Hockney was living in Paris intermittently from 1973 to 1975, he was visited by his parents and began making preparatory drawings for a painting of them. His father worked as a clerk but was also an amateur artist and antismoking campaigner, well known for his strong political views. His mother was a quiet but strong matriarchal figure. The artist inserted himself into the picture through his reflection in the mirror on the cart.
David Hockney
Study for “My Parents and Myself,” 1974
Colored pencil on paper
The David Hockney Foundation
© David Hockney
Mother, Bradford. 19 Feb 1979
Hockney made this drawing on 19 February 1979, the day of his father’s funeral. When he signed and dated it later, however, he mistakenly inscribed the year 1978. Relying on a minimal line, the artist conveys the sadness in his mother’s face as she looks directly at her son. The use of sepia ink applied with a reed pen—a possible reference to Van Gogh— gives his mother a softer, more vulnerable air than in the earlier pen-and-ink portraits. Making a drawing was less intrusive than taking a photograph would have been. Drawing had become Hockney’s way of communicating with his mother.
David Hockney
Mother, Bradford. 19 Feb 1979, 1979
Sepia ink on paper The David Hockney Foundation
© David Hockney
Photography by Richard Schmidt