David Hockney 25, the largest ever exhibition of the peerless British artist’s work, is having a profound effect on its visitors. One critic has written that the show left him in tears. The exhibition, which runs at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, underscores Hockney’s status as one of the greatest artists of the last hundred years.
Described by the Guardian as, “A joyous pilgrimage of colour and sincerity, with a blast of high emotion,” David Hockney 25 offers an extremely comprehensive survey of his unrivalled seven-decade-long career.
David Hockney himself, who remains enviably vigorous and engaged at the age of 87, has curated the exhibition, which occupies all 11 rooms of the Fondation Louis Vuitton and features more than 400 works created between 1955 and 2025. The pieces are in a range of different media, including oil and acrylic painting, ink, pencil and charcoal drawing, immersive video installations, and digital art (works on iPhone, iPad, photographic drawings).
David Hockney, Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy, 1968. © David Hockney. Photo: Fabrice Gibert.
Emphasising Hockney’s mastery of both draughtsmanship and colour, the show opens with a collection of iconic paintings from the 1950s to the 1970s. These cover his origins in Bradford (Portrait of My Father, 1955), before moving on to his time in London and then California.
The swimming pool – a leitmotif for the artist – plays a central role in A Bigger Splash, 1967 and Portrait of An Artist (Pool with Two Figures), 1972. Meanwhile, his seminal series of double portraits is illustrated in Mr. and Mrs. Clark and Percy, 1970-1971, and Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy, 1968.
Left: David Hockney, A Bigger Splash, 1967. © David Hockney. Tate, U.K.
Right: David Hockney, Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), 1972. © David Hockney. Photo: Art Gallery of New South Wales / Jenni Carter.
During the 1980s, Nature takes on increasing significance in Hockney’s work – as shown in A Bigger Grand Canyon, 1998 – before he comes back to Europe to carry on with his investigation of familiar landscapes.
The heart of the exhibition focuses on the past 25 years, spent mainly in Yorkshire, Normandy, and London, seen in such beautiful pictures as May Blossom on the Roman Road, 2009, and Bigger Trees near Warter, 2007.
David Hockney, Seven Yorkshire Landscapes, 2011. Video installation at the exhibition, David Hockney 25, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris.
© David Hockney © Fondation Louis Vuitton / Marc Domage
“David Hockney, 25” is a showcase of his astounding work over the past 70 years. The exhibition is likely to leave visitors as uplifted as the artist’s life-affirming motto that hangs over the entrance to the Fondation Louis Vuitton: “Do remember they can’t cancel the spring”.
David Hockney 25
The Fondation Louis Vuitton, 8, Avenue du Mahatma Gandhi Bois de Boulogne, 75116 Paris
Until 31st August 2025
More information and tickets, HERE.
Author: James Rampton
Lead image: Hockney Paints the Stage, 2025. Creation of David Hockney & Lightroom.
Conception 59 Productions. © David Hockney © Fondation Louis Vuitton / Marc Domage.
Other unmissable art shows you may like: Astonishing Things: The Drawings of Victor Hugo; The Face Magazine: Culture Shift; and Siena: The Rise of Painting 1300-1350.
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