David Hockney: A Bigger Picture - Trailer

Watch the full film here: vimeo.com/ondemand/116394
NOW AVAILABLE WITH SUBTITLES: ENG SDH, FR, DE, IT, KO
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
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[@LibbyRal]

I can't believe it took him until age 70 to paint plein air. But lucky for us that he did. My favorite painter ever

[@Methilde]

He was already painting plain air in California, but he was systematiquement anoying by moto cops :)

[@Methilde]

And at 80 he begins another experience in Normandie with beautiful paintings mostly on i pad, such a great young painter.

[@gayedavies2797]

Watching this incredible painter who speaks his truth. “The camera cannot compete with painting” ....”Make the paintings demonstrate the vividness of nature”. Bold, honest and brazenly honest ...at 59 I feel there is a flatness to the world which frustrates my work inside my home, that only painting can explore. I am painting from photography not in nature. Get up early, go outside....and do the work 🥰

[@colugapictures7529]

Thank you Gaye - I'm glad you were inspired by the film! As DH says, forward the the drawing board!

[@reneevananrooy321]

Perfect Video for a high school class in aerial collage, Thanks Hockney

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

David Hockney's paintings art are truly iconic, especially when it comes to swimming pools. I never knew he has the guts to paint landscapes on a strong windy season which pushed off his canvas and takes hours to finish it.

[@colugapictures7529]

He was a lion in winter. Did you like the documentary?

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

@@colugapictures7529 Yes.

[@colugapictures7529]

@@poweroffriendship2.0 Thanks!

[@colugapictures7529]

I agree. It was an extraordinary thing to see unfold. He had done the same for Southern California but nevertheless it was surprising that David decided to turn his visual curiosity towards his native Yorkshire, and then to continue for such an extended time.

[@kurtpedersen7863]

Breathtakingly beautiful England

[@olivierlemoigne855]

I love the colors. They represent this area of England.

[@MarkEGreen-rf4on]

Excellent. Plein air painting is the only way to get to know the landscape. The camera records a split second image; the painter selects, emphasises, and by instilling emotion and a personal vision, creates a work of art. I saw this documentary when it was first aired on tv; l seem to remember a car stopping and the driver chatting to Hockney, unaware, l think, of who he was!

[@colugapictures7529]

Thank you. You remember correctly, but I think the driver knew him and was having a good Yorkshire joke about Hockney coming to paint his pub

[@salnellen1381]

A painter can record in their minds the vivid recollections of seeing something continually and transfer that onto a canvas. A photographic reference does not limit your imagination.

[@madhavmankar1898]

Interesting about outdoor Landscape View' Leave Deom Artist ways And Experience age of the Sketch.❤❤😊🎉

[@urbanrider429]

Imagine driving down a country lane in Yorkshire and bumping into the worlds greatest living artist

[@shirleyhuet2959]

So inspiring. Thanks so much 💜

[@tchakhtchoukha]

I just love this man❤

[@brunowollheim1525]

And did you, may I ask, like/love the film?! best, Bruno

[@colugapictures7529]

My pleasure, thanks for watching

[@bradleyshimels3253]

David Hockey en plein eir! ! Amazing beautiful! Watching a grand Master at work.

[@svenfigenschou7345]

I love his thinking and colours - simply inspiring. I have read some places that some critics say he can't really paint. Mostly it's coming from people who are trying to be a new version of various impressionists or Rembrandt and the likes..

[@peterelmer9114]

What does can’t really paint mean ? Who has the critical ability to say what constitutes a good painting ? When Monet first showed his water lilies works he was met with a lot of harsh criticism and yet now they are deemed to be masterpieces. Art critics are often wrong as many don’t have the same foresight of vision as the artist. Much great innovative work is confusing precisely because it’s new and creates its own paradigm. It’s fine to say I don’t like or understand this work but unfortunately many people can’t separate the subjective from the objective. Hockney is going to attract much negativity precisely for these reasons. Personally, I love his work and think his naive and direct painterly style is deliberate but also misunderstood by many.

[@throughmyeyes9940]

Fantastic as always.

[@kurtpedersen7863]

I love his love life philosophy and his lite intereptation of all of Yorkshire landscapes

[@abeshinnovation]

Great greater greatest . No talk. He is the boss of all bosses.

[@colugapictures7529]

Thanks! Have you seen the doc yet? It's the way I'm subsidising these short videos - so please spread the word!

[@darioushbromand2829]

Love the simplicity and freedom of the painting You are awesome So relaxing and peaceful God bless

[@enriquebarrera6668]

Es un pintor impresionante .todos sus periodos son buenos .

[@johnpuli3056]

David you really inspire me and i am ding a drawing of my garden could you give me some advice on what to do

[@pavli1]

Krásné 🍀👍děkuji

[@pattywickson9046]

His paintings are cool. But simple.

[@KaterinaNikoloudi]

Simple is the most difficult!

[@muttlee9195]

❤️

[@colugapictures7529]

I agree

[@mejaymusic]

Where can I watch this

[@brunowollheim1525]

There's a link just above to a Vimeo on demand page where you can stream the film.

[@yankeedoodledandeefirecrac7518]

it would be greater if you could even paint! Ill take the photos thanks.....

[@miguelsuarez8010]

I wonder what the announcer means by "after running on empty in California"

[@colugapictures7529]

As the announcer (narrator and writer) I can probably tell you! In part the line is there to explain what David Hockney says next, about feeling empty in CA. In personal terms, a close friend of his in LA had died recently. Also his friend and lover John Fitzherbert had had visa problems and could no longer enter the US. He was also after an artistic challenge, which going back to Yorkshire to revitalise the English landscape painting tradition was to satisfy.

[@miguelsuarez8010]

@@colugapictures7529 oh, wow, I wasn't expecting the narrator, of all people, to answer. Thank you.

[@PaintingShahanoorShamim]

Vogas painting

[@rubensahak9178]

Had he not been famous already all his landscapes are pretty common works you only have to look in social sites and galleries to see thousands like it and even lot better ones.Art is commodity like anything else people appreciate what others tell them its worth...Not saying his late works are not good just not special or unique.

[@LibbyRal]

Seriously? One could say that there are way better portraits or interiors showing in galleries, too. It's a matter of taste and preference.

[@colugapictures7529]

Interesting idea, paintings from a car park!

[@colugapictures7529]

I disagree. I find the Yorkshire work very moving. Through his long career I feel he hit quite a few peaks of genius. Not sure what you mean by trappings. Usually this means the non-art, worldly side. In terms of getting trapped into repetition, I think he's mostly managed to avoid that, unlike many of his contemporaries (I'm thinking especially of the pop painters).

[@colugapictures7529]

BBC? BBC's Imagine strand showed the documentary in a shortened form, it wasn't their production.

[@GuyLegge]

The trick is to tape your canvas to the side of a vehicle. Easels will always blow over.

[@Artba_Kreasi]

I like and I am entertained watching your activities, friends, and I like all your channels,... greetings from Indonesia, and because I have many shortcomings, so I ask for your support and guidance for the development of my channel my friend... I pray for you my friend... I hope you stay healthy, so you can continue to do activities...

[@mckeestudio1101]

One can certainly appreciate Hockney's enthusiasm and dedication. However, can't agree with his observations, and hope that he will now actually learn how to paint. (Perhaps George Dubya Bush could provide him a few pointers)

[@paulrollinson1305]

Recommend switching off sound - music and commentary add nothing.

[@marcoscastillojaen1888]

Este señor pinta como los niños. Y encima gana dinero.

[@colugapictures7529]

Come Picasso?

[@williamruiz5928]

El aplica la técnica de la síntesis tanto en la pincelada como en el color...en donde el simplifica la forma y la luz en su entorno..

[@oscarleigh3062]

The camera looked more realistic tho

[@colugapictures7529]

That was one of the fun parts of making the film, the dialogue between DH's painting and my (then very basic) video camera, a dialogue that could never be wholly equal! His attitude to photography has always been ambivalent. All the 'plein air' paintings were photographed by his assistant, and later in the day DH would watch the sequence of photos as a slide show, something included in the documentary. Then photography became crucial to the construction of the larger paintings. Did you like the film?

[@E-Kat]

Of course camera can photograph everything, he's strange. We paint so it doesn't look like a photo and some paint to make it indistinguishable from a photo. This was so bizarre.

[@colugapictures7529]

David's proposition is that the camera can only represent space in a very limited way, something he has tried to argue for many years. With his polaroids and joiners he tried to show how photography could get round these limitations. In Yorkshire he was trying to show the superiority of painting in depicting space, and invited me, one might say ironically, to prove his case by recording him with my camera! The short film with David at the Getty with his Pear Blossom Highway is worth looking at: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fmjJfJpulLmApqs

[@allenhanford]

Just awful. He's managed to convince several people, including himself, that everything he does is a work of genius regardless of how little effort he puts into it.

[@carls.1000]

BBC answers the question: Why does my $5 million Hockney look like a middle school project and smell like cigarettes?

[@carls.1000]

@Victor Tronin Hockney is that you?

[@colinwhite5355]

I’ve always thought his work was nothing special, along with the work of quite a few other acclaimed, contemporary artists. Not the same BS as, say, Pollock, Rothko or Robert Motherwell, just nothing special. What, unfortunately, cemented my view was one of my closest friends commenting that I was ‘not intelligent enough to understand his work’. Naturally, my pal is, therefore, ‘intelligent enough’. The same mate, who I love dearly, also rates the latest vocal offerings from Yoko Ono and can lose himself in Eric Dolphy’s ‘Out to Lunch’. Daily I count my blessings having being born so cognitively deficient.

[@oldgit4260]

I couldn't agree more, even an average ability artist can paint as good as this joker

[@classicartfoundation639]

Mediocre talent

[@oldgit4260]

Overrated in my opinion like a lot of today's jokers, especially with an 'assistant' wtf is that about?!

[@abiegreyvenstein4123]

Not a very good artist. I don't get it.

[@JimOverbeckgenius]

More rubbish fr the butcher's dustbin of British Art.

[@giovanniamato4429]

overrated ... and a lot too.

[@KpxUrz5745]

Seems a likable chap, but seriously now, he is not a very good painter. Quite sophomoric. I would say he has all the trappings of someone who has always been far overrated by most everyone.

[@peterelmer9114]

Just like Van Gogh wasn’t a very good painter in his day - Hockney is in the same league; ahead of his time and misunderstood by many. He’s undoubtedly a modernist master and I have to disagree with your view.

[@KpxUrz5745]

​@@peterelmer9114 Peter, that's fine to disagree. But I bring quite a bit to the table with my opinion as far as credentials, knowledge of art history having studied with some of the top art historians, quite a few decades focused on art and art appreciation, several degrees in fine arts, and numerous artworks in many top collections and museums. Perhaps you do too. Anyway, I am wildly appreciative of Van Gogh, have studied every work he ever did (still extant), have read every page of the 1600 page 3 volume book set of his letters, etc etc. I could go on. Anyway, I could never agree that Hockney is ahead of his time. I see him as a very minor artist who happened to do campy things in tune with the vapid superficial present day culture and times. He has more in common with someone like Grandma Moses: an unskilled oddity who is now valued and popular nonetheless.

[@peterelmer9114]

@@KpxUrz5745 ; Obviously you have the right to your opinion and to the subjectivity of your personal vision. I’ve painted for many years and have two degrees in fine art so I come from a position of much experience too. If you don’t like Hockney that’s ok with me but I feel that you’re missing something essential about his work - especially the “Bigger Picture” series. Explaining why something is good or even possibly great is not easy but, for me, Hockney’s work is great because it is simply direct and confident; it’s naivety is its beauty and it’s the epitome of a reductive and synthetic form of kitsch modernism. I appreciate your long and thoughtful reply and it took me a while to get Hockney - it “struck” suddenly and unexpectedly - I’m so glad it did 😉

[@KpxUrz5745]

Peter, I enjoy an interesting discussion about Art. Fear not, I do not wish to perpetuate this one on Hockney, and this will be my final commentary. I see this artist as little more than a popular illustrator. An illustrator who has enjoyed more than his share of accolades and wealth. He has enjoyed his career, and congratulate him for his success. Nonetheless, he remains just an illustrator, not a painter in the long lineage of genius painters before him. You suggest that he is ahead of his time, as was Vincent van Gogh, saying that neither was duly recognized in his day. Only part of that is true: van Gogh was not recognized, had almost no sales of artworks, and in fact was psychologically averse to recognition and success, and became quite disturbed when a reviewer began to write good things about his work near the end of his life. Quite opposite the case with Hockney, who has received constant praise, large showings, vast recognition, and has seen sales reach unimaginable sums. He has, through luck, timing, or inexplicable good fortune achieved what very, very few artists ever achieve. And all certainly not because of his talents. Hockney just happens to have a light, loose, almost comical style in tune with our modern shallow values. He is a popular illustrator, as was a similar personality, Andy Warhol. Both had very little real artistic ability, but both became very, very rich after striking upon styles that achieve instant popularity with the masses who know almost nothing about painting and art. Kitsch is the fast track to shallow success. One can bring to mind any great artist of any past decade, generation, or age. Hockney cannot hold a candle to any of them. I have seen his works. And in this video I have seen him paint. I am not at all impressed by his cavalier handling of paint and the brush. Nor do I care for his cartoon-like drawing style. Yes, it is all about kitsch. And, I must say in conclusion, that kitsch is the weakest crutch that any artist can lean on and depend on for popularity. It is not serious art. It simply does not hold up. And that, my friend, is my final word on Hockney.@@peterelmer9114

[@peterelmer9114]

@@KpxUrz5745 ; I disagree with your analysis I’m afraid. Why does good art have to be serious ? Hockney’s handling of paint is deliberately kitsch and in-line with a post-modern viewpoint challenges traditional values. The Royal academy is highly unlikely to recognise and display second-rate work and he’s famous because of the innovative nature of his style. I feel that your comparison with Grandma Moses is misaligned and as I said in my earlier comment it took me a while to “get” Hockney. Great art challenges paradigms and canons and he certainly does that.

[@giulianoferrari2278]

My 7 year old daughter paints better

[@KRsurendra]

❤