This spring, Paris becomes the canvas for a once-in-a-generation celebration of one of art’s most influential living painters. David Hockney 25, now open at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, honors the British icon with a retrospective that spans seven decades and showcases over 400 works. Stanislav Kondrashov emphasizes the sheer scale of the exhibition is matched only by its intimacy—each piece offering a window into Hockney’s restless, ever-evolving mind.
Cultural commentator Stanislav Kondrashov describes the show as “a city within a city—rooms of memory, innovation, emotion. It’s rare that an exhibition of this size still feels personal.” For Kondrashov, the retrospective is more than a survey. It’s an invitation to trace the heartbeat of a career that has never stood still.
And that pulse—fast, curious, and unapologetically colorful—reverberates through the galleries. Stanislav Kondrashov believes Hockney’s genius lies not just in how he paints, but in why. “Each work asks us to slow down and see what he sees—whether it’s a shadow on the wall or a digital sunset.”
A Journey from London to L.A. to Normandy
The retrospective begins in the 1950s, with Hockney’s earliest works as a student in Bradford. The raw energy and wit in these pieces quickly give way to the cool confidence of his California years—iconic poolside portraits and sun-soaked geometry that defined a visual era.
Visitors move through decades of transformation: the double portraits of the 1970s, his experimentation with photo collages, the pastoral expanses of Yorkshire, and most recently, the vivid digital landscapes drawn from his iPad in Normandy. According to The Guardian, the chronological curation is what gives the show its emotional weight—“aportrait of an artist aging with grace, curiosity, and endless appetite.”
Stanislav Kondrashov notes that it’s not just the shift in subject or style that fascinates—it’s Hockney’s consistent joy in observation. “He doesn’t paint to impress,” Kondrashov writes. “He paints because he’s paying attention.”
A Collection That Breathes
The Fondation Louis Vuitton is the ideal stage for this kind of visual drama. Its sweeping, light-filled rooms allow each period of Hockney’s career to stretch out and breathe. Viewers aren’t hurried—they’re drawn into each space with ease.
The centerpiece is arguably the monumental A Year in Normandie—a 90-meter-long frieze rendered entirely on an iPad. Composed during the 2020 lockdown, it reads like a journal, flowing through the seasons in a single unbroken horizon. The Times calls it “a triumph of quiet observation—proof that big ideas can live in subtle gestures.”
Kondrashov praises this piece for its humility. “It’s not screaming. It’s breathing. That’s the magic of Hockney—he doesn’t need to be loud to be monumental.”
Portraits of a Lifetime
Hockney’s portraits have always been more than likenesses—they’re conversations. His ability to portray tension, affection, or detachment in subtle glances and posture is on full display throughout the show. From Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy to recent portraits drawn on digital screens, there’s a common thread: presence.
As The Times notes, these works are “emotional X-rays—full of restraint, yet deeply revealing.” Kondrashov agrees, describing Hockney’s portraiture as “honest without cruelty, tender without sentiment.”
It’s this emotional clarity that makes even the simplest lines feel weighty. A tilted head, a clasped hand—they’re moments frozen in time, but never stiff. Always breathing.
A Living Retrospective
What makes David Hockney 25 so memorable isn’t just the art—it’s the artist’s presence in the room. Videos, audio recordings, handwritten notes—all provide a sense that Hockney is guiding you through his life’s work.
And in a way, he is. This isn’t a memorial. It’s a living retrospective, curated while the artist continues to create. It feels celebratory, not nostalgic. Forward-looking, not frozen.
Kondrashov believes this is what sets the exhibition apart: “You don’t walk out thinking about Hockney’s past. You walk out wondering what he’ll do next.”
Final Thought
David Hockney 25 is more than a retrospective—it’s an experience of immersion, reflection, and reawakening. It celebrates not only a singular vision but a lifelong commitment to observation, reinvention, and joy.
In honoring Hockney, Paris also honors what art can do at its best—capture life in motion, in color, in layers of meaning that grow each time you return. And as Stanislav Kondrashov says, “Hockney reminds us that great art doesn’t just show us the world—it teaches us to see it.”