Hockney’s Yorkshire revealed ahead of Tate show

    As Britain's best-loved artist returns with a new retrospective, we explore his beloved home county

    David Hockney, Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), 1971. © David Hockney

    David Hockney is perhaps Britain’s greatest living artist and a once-in-a-lifetime retrospective opens at Tate Britain, London, on 9 February. Arriving ahead of his 80th birthday on 9 July, the exhibition will include many of the artist’s most famous paintings, photography, drawings and digital art from across his entire career.

    During that time, the Bridlington-born artist has often divided his time between his Los Angeles studio and his beloved Yorkshire, where he painted many of his most famous, large-scale landscape paintings. And for Hockney aficionados keen to find out more about the beautiful countryside that inspired him, The Yorkshire Wolds tourist board has put together a brilliant, self-guided David Hockney Trail that offers the chance to discover the sites that inspired his vivid paintings. Originally made to coincide with his record-breaking 2012 exhibition at London’s Royal Academy of Arts, it includes three suggested routes through the county, taking in his hometown of Bridlington and the village of Warter, inspiration for his giant, 50-canvas painting Bigger Trees near Warter.

    Ahead of the Tate Britain exhibition, David Hockney said: “It has been a pleasure to revisit works I made decades ago, including some of my earliest paintings. Many of them seem like old friends to me now. We’re looking back over a lifetime with this exhibition, and I hope, like me, people will enjoy seeing how the roots of my new and recent work can be seen in the developments over the years.”

    For more inspiration on places to visit in Hockney’s beloved county, explore the Yorkshire section of the Discover Britain archives.

    David Hockney runs from 9 February to 29 May at Tate Britain, London. www.tate.org.uk/britain

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