An exhibit of works by David Hockney from a private collection will be on view at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich beginning Wednesday, Dec. 6.
“Hockney/Origins: Early Works from the Roy B. and Edith J. Simpson Collection” traces the artist’s early ambitions, with the spotlight on works created between 1961 and ’80. Reflecting a range of media, the 16 works include oil and acrylic paintings, pressed paper pulp, crayon drawings, lithographs and etchings, chronicling subjects and variations on themes that Hockney has consistently engaged with throughout his career.
“David Hockney’s vision is especially appropriate for the Bruce, which is devoted to exploring the intersection of art and science,” said Robert Wolterstorff, the Susan E. Lynch executive director and CEO of the Bruce. “Hockney is endlessly fascinated with how we see the world and represents it through marks on paper or canvas. That act of seeing, interpreting and creating is at the heart of both art and science.”
One of the most significant works in the ongoing exhibit – organized by Margarita Karasoulas, curator of art at the Bruce – is a painting the artist created when he was a 24-year-old student at the Royal College of Art. “A Grand Procession of Dignitaries in the Semi-Egyptian Style” (1961) was inspired by the poem “Waiting for the Barbarians” by Constantine P. Cavafy, one of the first modern authors to write openly about homosexuality. Hockney employs a style inspired by ancient Egyptian art and Pablo Picasso to present his abstract take on the literary work. Three figures featured in the painting offer a commentary on the portrayal of public identity versus true self. The artist later expressed the importance of this early painting to his own growing identity and self-awareness as an artist.
Known for his versatility and inventiveness, Hockney has experimented with various techniques throughout his nearly seven-decade career. Two large-scale paintings from the 1970s demonstrate the artist’s affinity for acrylic paint, which he first employed in 1964. The flat style and vibrant colors of “French Shop” exemplify his early interest in architecture and underlying sensibility for Pop art, while “Japanese House and Tree” evokes the work of Henri Matisse reimagined in a Pop-inflected style.
Two examples of Hockney’s famed “Paper Pools” series – “Diving Board with Shadow (Paper Pool 15)” and “Swimmer Underwater (Paper Pool 16)” – capture a particular moment in Hockney’s career. Before traveling to California from London in the fall of 1978, Hockney visited friend and printmaker Kenneth Tyler in Bedford, where he was introduced to the unconventional medium of paper pulp. Hockney took inspiration from Tyler’s swimming pool and feverishly experimented with the new medium during his six-week stay, leveraging the colored and pressed pulp to highlight the unique tones and movement of shimmering light on water.
Multiple works on paper in the exhibit feature intimate depictions of Hockney’s friends and colleagues, including textile designer and recurring muse Celia Birtwell, who came to prominence during the same period as Hockney. This series of portraits captures various poses across several media, from drawing through a printmaking evolution, from black and white to color etching.
Assembled and treasured in the Simpsons’ home over many decades, the works in “Hockney/Origins” reflect a generosity of spirit through the family’s desire to share the collection with the community.
“Edith and Roy Simpson have been dear friends of the Bruce for almost four decades. Their collection is one of the most important of Hockney’s work in private hands, and it is an honor to share it with the Bruce’s visitors,” said Wolterstorff.
The couple built their collection of Hockney works in Greenwich, where they spent most of their married life. “We never believed it was ours to keep forever, so it gives me great joy to share this special collection with the Bruce Museum and the greater community,” said Edith J. Simpson. “I hope this exhibition will enrich the lives of those who come to see it and, by attracting visitors to our beautiful town, will help support local businesses as well.”
