The Renowned Artist: Some Very, Very, Very New Paintings Not Yet Shown in the French Capital – Exhibition Analysis: Continuously Evolving, Ever Captivating

He’s still at it, is David Hockney. Now in his late eighties, and more than 60 years into a career which has propelled him to the pinnacle of the contemporary art pile, the artist remains active with his brush, still experimenting, still innovating, and still having shows.

A Glimpse into the Exhibition

This art presentation – the first in a swish ultra-central London location for Annely Juda, which has represented him for decades – is packed with paintings that feel freshly completed. The initial gallery is all eye-searingly bright still lifes: furniture, produce, and floral arrangements. It’s the most old-fashioned and staid of subject matter, but nothing Hockney does is that dull, is it?

His Van Gogh-y wicker chairs glow in bright yellow and vivid purple; his floors present bold contrasts of red, yellow and orange shapes; his fruit depictions are simple, elemental, and youthful. Throughout, he toys with what he calls “reverse perspective”, aiming to mirror true human vision, not the static view of life we get in photographs and other paintings. So everything looks wobbly and twisted. His chair legs splay, his tablecloths bend and curve. I don’t think it’s any closer to “real” perspective compared to conventional techniques, yet the dizzying, uneasy sensation it produces is engaging and amusing. Garden images are incorporated into certain pieces – brief peeks into a muted English setting that enhance the vividness and cheerfulness of the overall artwork.

His work is always intriguing … Flowers on a Garden Table, 13 July 2025.

The Evolution of Brushwork

What is unmistakable is the increased tremor in the brushstrokes than they used to be. Classic Hockney is so assured, so in command of his paintbrush, but these new works are almost shockingly unsteady. The brush marks are full of quivers and tremors, the lines are all over the shop, patches of white base layer are visible throughout. They border on chaotic, but still immediately, uniquely and recognisably him. This creates a deeply moving and poignant encounter – we’re watching one of the great artists of modern times age in front of our eyes. Compare all this with the very early works on display in another show earlier this year and it evokes the sense of a career’s beginning and end, and I’m not sure I’m ready to handle that level of morbidity, truly.

Figurative Works: Critical Views

The portrait section is the most controversial aspect. His method for depicting skin has edged more towards pointillism in recent times and the result is a bunch of bodies that appear afflicted with blemishes. Every subject is patchy, flushed and marked, dabbed with pink and red hues except for poor John Kasmin who looks somewhat decayed. The depictions resemble lifeless forms than living beings with heartbeats and vitality. A triple portrait of a man in a mirror is conceptually interesting, yet the subject appears awkwardly waiting for his wife outside the John Lewis changing rooms. Solely the self-representation depicting the artist working from a wheelchair is successful, due to its raw openness, but also so funnily self-aware.

Serene and minimalist … 8th April 2020, No. 2.

Digital Explorations

Upstairs, Hockney continues his iPad experiments featuring lunar artworks; predominantly somber and atmospheric, large radiant spheres suspended over darkened scenery. They feel quiet, austere, maybe a little sad. I won’t hear any whingeing about his iPad work – some bemoan the absence of physical texture and strokes and humanity and yadda yadda yadda, but to my mind they’re great – an artist mastering modern tools, demonstrating that regardless of the format, he preserves his distinctive artistic identity.

The Question of Prolificacy

However, do we really need yet another Hockney exhibition? There have been more than 10 shows of his work in London in the last eight or nine years alone, alongside a major retrospective at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris earlier this year, and this new exhibition isn’t even the last of it. Another significant event is planned for 2026, as well. I admire Hockney, but even I think enough might just be enough.

And yet, I guess we should celebrate him while we can. Here, through these recent pieces with their imperfections, wit, and vibrancy, he’s just proving that he’s still at it, and he’s still got it, decades into his career.