National Gallery unveils Hockney's intimate portrait prints
The National Gallery of Australia opens Portraits in Print, showcasing over 50 works from Hockney's printmaking career spanning three decades.
Months after David Hockney died in June, the National Gallery of Australia is showing his print work. The show, Portraits in Print, features more than 50 works from his career starting in the 1960s.
Many works come from the Kenneth E. Tyler Collection. The gallery built this collection by buying proofs and drawings from Gemini G.E.L., a famous print workshop.
The show reveals a side of Hockney many don't know. He is famous for colourful, light-filled paintings.
But portraiture was central to his work. The prints show intimate detail in how he drew collaborators, romantic partners, friends and family.
A separate immersive show of his work opens in Sydney in October.
- More than 50
- Works in exhibition
- Three decades starting in 1960s
- Career span
- James Mollison, inaugural NGA director
- Collection founder
- Gemini G.E.L.
- Print workshop
Why it mattersThe exhibition offers a rare look at an artist's personal life and professional networks, revealing how Hockney worked within a community of printers and collaborators rather than as a solitary genius.
AustraliaThe exhibition is showing now at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, with a second Hockney presentation opening in Sydney in October, giving Australian audiences two chances to engage with the artist's work.
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