David Hockney: Drawing from Life by Sarah Howgate and Isabel Seligman London: National Portrait Gallery, $31 208 pages, 225 illustrations (134 color) “The book was developed to accompany an exhibit that I saw at the National Portrait Gallery in London and then again at the Morgan Library in New York. Now in his ninth decade and more than 70 years into his forever-evolving art career, David Hockney contributed to this collection, which is primarily focused on his superb draftsmanship and the related arts. The format of the book is intriguing. It focuses on five important people in Hockney’s life and shows his portraits of them over the course of 80 years. The five people are his mother, Laura; Celia Birtwell, the innovative British textile designer; Gregory Evans, an intimate friend; Maurice Payne, a master printer of art and longtime Hockney collaborator; and Hockney himself. The substantial portions focused on each person take them through all ages and show how friendships change over the years (growing apart, growing closer,
and the inevitable passing of time) and how who you are becomes reflected in your vision to the outside world. The book always inspires me by showing how Hockney’s work has continued to grow and evolve. His experimentation in media extends to the traditional pen and ink of the old masters, as well as charcoal, photomontage, camera lucida, and even to the mastery of painting on the iPad. Hockney is forever searching for ways to grow and delight, and this search is what keeps him young and wanting to pursue the next decade. Hockney’s diverse work and exploration continue to drive my creativity. And in the same way that Hockney experiments with different media and evolves his approach to the portrait form over time, our new projects like 393 West End Avenue celebrate historic sensibility and the classic New York residential building form while interpreting these cues in a modern vernacular.”