September 6, 2026 · global
David Hockney: Prints of a Life at the National Gallery of Australia
Fifty prints by the British master, drawn from national collections, trace three decades of personal and creative life through the lens of portraiture.
The National Gallery of Australia in Canberra offers a rare insight into the intimate world of David Hockney with the exhibition "David Hockney: Portraits in Print," on view from September 5, 2026, to February 14, 2027. The show brings together over 50 prints by the artist, who passed away in 2026, all drawn from the Australian national collection. It highlights how Hockney, a major figure in 20th- and early 21st-century art, made portraiture a lasting field of experimentation. The works span nearly thirty years of the artist's career, focusing on the 1970s and 1980s, a period when he lived in Los Angeles, Paris, and London. Through prints of varied formats—some intimate, some monumental—the exhibition evokes the people and cultural milieus that shaped his life. Hockney returns to recurring themes, documenting his close friends, relationships, and the circles he frequented. Born in 1937, David Hockney established himself as one of the most influential artists of his generation. Celebrated for his painting, particularly his Californian pools, he also developed a prolific printmaking practice, exploring techniques such as etching and lithography. This less-known side of his work reveals an approach that was both experimental and deeply personal. Drawing on Australia's national collections, which include works acquired at earlier retrospectives, the exhibition offers a unique view of the artist's creative process. It fits into the museum's programming devoted to major figures of modern and contemporary art, giving the public a chance to rediscover an essential facet of his oeuvre. After Canberra, the exhibition may travel, though nothing has been officially announced. In the meantime, Australian and international visitors will have several months to appreciate these portraits, which celebrate the encounter between a rich personal life and extraordinary technical skill.
Written by the ADM desk based on artdaily. Read the original article for the full story.
Source — artdaily ↗