David Hockney: A Monumental Retrospective at the Fondation Louis Vuitton
David Hockney at the Fondation Louis Vuitton: A 2025 Retrospective of the Iconic British Artist
From April 9 to August 31, 2025, the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris will host an exceptional exhibition dedicated to David Hockney, one of the most influential artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. Entitled David Hockney 25, this retrospective spans over seven decades of creation, bringing together more than 400 works produced between 1955 and 2025. The exhibition offers a fully immersive experience into the colorful, innovative, and profound world of the British artist, exploring his recurring themes, varied techniques, and artistic evolution over time.
Early Works and Stylistic Evolution
The exhibition begins with a selection of emblematic works from the 1950s to the 1970s, a period during which Hockney laid the foundations of his unique style. Among these early pieces are Portrait of My Father (1955) and A Bigger Splash (1967), which reflect his keen interest in light, color, and the depiction of everyday life. These works reveal a sharp eye on society and a remarkable ability to capture the moment with precision. Through these early paintings, viewers can already sense the technical mastery and sensitivity that characterize his entire body of work.
From the 1980s onwards, Hockney increasingly turned toward nature and landscapes, a theme that would soon become central to his artistic output. Series such as A Bigger Grand Canyon (1998) and May Blossom on the Roman Road (2009) reveal his fascination with the changing light, seasons, and the subtleties of the natural world. Often created en plein air, these works reflect a deep commitment to portraying nature with exceptional emotional intensity and chromatic richness, demonstrating his talent for capturing the beauty and grandeur of landscapes.
Innovation and Digital Exploration
David Hockney is also renowned for his technological avant-gardism. For several decades, he has explored the possibilities offered by digital tools, integrating these new techniques into his artistic practice. In his recent works, he notably uses iPads and iPhones to create vibrant images, such as in the series 220 for 2020, produced during the lockdown in Normandy. This transition to digital media brings a newfound freshness and immediacy to his work, while preserving his recognizable style. These digital creations reflect his remarkable ability to evolve and adapt to innovations without losing his artistic essence.
An Immersive Experience at the Fondation Louis Vuitton
The David Hockney 25 exhibition at the Fondation Louis Vuitton is an immersive experience designed to plunge visitors into the artist’s universe. The venue’s eleven galleries are dedicated to different facets of his work, offering a rich, varied, and seamlessly curated journey. The artist himself actively participated in the exhibition’s design, carefully selecting the works and collaborating closely with his team to create a coherent and captivating visual narrative. This direct involvement provides deeper insight into his intentions and the depth of his artistic approach.
The first rooms of the exhibition present a chronological retrospective, allowing visitors to follow David Hockney’s stylistic and thematic evolution. Major works such as Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy (1970–1971) and Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy (1968) illustrate his interest in portraiture, the depiction of human relationships, and the luminous quality of his compositions. These pieces are marked by brilliant lighting and meticulous composition, demonstrating his technical mastery and his ability to capture emotional nuance within his subjects.
The central galleries are dedicated to more recent works, where nature and intimacy play a central role. Monumental series such as Bigger Trees near Warter (2007) and La Grande Cour (2019) reveal his fascination with landscapes and seasonal cycles. These large-scale works intensely capture the grandeur and complexity of nature. The La Grande Cour series, composed of 24 ink drawings, evokes the famous Bayeux Tapestry and reflects the artist’s interest in visual storytelling and artistic traditions. Through this approach, Hockney connects his work to a historical legacy while offering a contemporary vision.
The exhibition concludes with a series of more introspective works, created after 2020, delving into more spiritual and personal themes. Pieces such as After Munch: Less is Known than People Think (2023) and After Blake: Less is Known than People Think (2024) illustrate Hockney’s ongoing dialogue with the great masters of art history, as well as his quest for meaning and depth. These works, imbued with mysticism and emotion, reveal a more intimate and contemplative side of the artist, offering visitors a visual and emotional experience.
Among the highlights of the exhibition is also an immersive installation created in collaboration with 59 Studio. Located in Gallery 10, this installation plunges the visitor into the world of opera, a long-standing passion of David Hockney. The sets and costumes, renowned for their brilliance and inventiveness, come to life through projections and animations. This unique sensory experience blends visual art and music, reinforcing the artist’s versatility and his constant desire to push the boundaries of artistic creation. This installation also underscores the multidisciplinary nature of his work, which goes far beyond traditional painting.
Tribute to a Visionary Artist
Through the David Hockney 25 exhibition, the full power of a constantly evolving body of work is revealed, driven by a profoundly modern and free artistic vision. This forward-looking perspective, this desire to endlessly explore new forms of expression, finds a particularly strong resonance in the work of Norki. Like Hockney, Norki challenges conventions, mixes techniques, and asserts a resolutely expressionist and contemporary aesthetic. Both share the same ambition: to make art a field of experimentation, sensitivity, and rupture, in the service of a vision of the world that is both personal and universal. In this lineage of visionary artists, Norki emerges as a rising figure who extends and reinvents the legacy of modern artistic expression.