This video is an outtake from David Hockney: A Bigger Picture, an award-winning documentary by filmmaker Bruno Wollheim. Watch the full film here: vimeo.com/ondemand/116394
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Be yourself. Look at the world through a different lens. Swim against the tide. Don’t worry about the mainstream. Go off-road. David’s personal mantra probably still holds good today as advice for the budding artist. David describes the orthodoxy he was fighting against when he was starting out on his career in the 50s, when the art criticism of Roger Fry, the belief in Pure Form, the art of Francis Bacon and American Abstraction were ruling the roost, and Illustration was a dirty word. Arguably one of Hockney’s greatest gifts is as an illustrator, of poetry, fairy tales, opera design, and of his own life. Here David makes the case for illustration, employing the support of WH Auden, Rembrandt and the painter Walter Sickert.
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Filmed over three years with unprecedented access, A Bigger Picture captures Britain’s most beloved painter at work. David Hockney’s return from California to paint the East Yorkshire landscape of his childhood - outside, in all weathers, through the seasons - culminates in the largest picture ever made outdoors. It’s an inspiring story of a painter in creative dialogue with nature and photography, and a revealing portrait of Britain’s most popular and celebrated artist.
“This wonderful film … will be of lasting importance for future generations who want to understand Hockney’s art.” Saturday Review, BBC Radio 4
“Bruno Wollheim’s portrait of this forthright magus is an unqualified, life-enhancing joy from start to finish.” - The Sunday Times
“This film may well be the best anyone will ever make about Hockney’s process.” - The Times, London.
“As gently hypnotic and fulfilling as one of Hockney’s own works.” - Time Out
“This impressive documentary is almost cinematic in its scope… both majestic and intimate” - The Observer
Watch the full documentary here: vimeo.com/224807729
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