Harry Styles just got David Hockneyfied. The English superstar was painted by legendary artist David Hockney for an upcoming exhibition.
A soon-to-be-unveiled line of portraits by legendary artist David Hockney will include English pop singer Harry Styles as one of the subjects. The paintings will be up for display at the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) in London between 2 November 2023 and 21 January 2024.
The autumn event marks the return of the five-star exhibition ‘David Hockney: Drawing from Life’, which was last held for 20 days before the NPG shut down in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The upcoming exhibition will introduce 33 new portraits, depicting friends and visitors who dropped by his studio in Normandy, France.
All about David Hockney’s painting of Harry Styles
Details of the striking portrait
The project started when the “As It Was” hitmaker visited Hockney’s sunny studio in May 2022. Over two sittings, the artist worked on accurately achieving the shades of Styles’ red and yellow striped shaggy cardigan, his pearl string and indigo jeans. The final artwork is acrylic on canvas, measuring 1219.2 x 914.4 mm.
Speaking about his work method, Hockney told Vogue, “I begin with the head first. From there, I place everything else.” The colourful painting is a stunning replica of the singer’s back-swept ruffled hair, his casual style of sitting and the unmissable glitter in his eyes and smile during his fanboy moment. A sense of transparency and honesty line the British artist’s works that make this so life-like. “Hockney’s eye for the human figure may be playful, often kaleidoscopic, sometimes fantastical – but it’s always, most importantly, frank,” notes Vogue.
Sharing his experience, Styles said, “David Hockney has been reinventing the way we look at the world for decades. It was a complete privilege to be painted by him.” However, for Hockney, the case was slightly different. He recalled, “I wasn’t really aware of his celebrity then. He was just another person who came to the studio.”
Around 160 paintings are to be showcased at the NPG exhibition
The previous iteration of the exhibition included portraits of Hockney’s mother, Celia Birtwell, Gregory Evans, Maurice Payne and the artist himself, in a range of media — from pencil, pen and ink and crayon, to photographic collage and the iPad. In fact, Hockney was one of the pioneering artists, who elevated the gadget to a tool of drawing.
While Harry Styles’ stardom will be one of the major crowd-pullers, visitors will also witness Hockney’s distinctive genius and masterstrokes. Along with the new paintings of 2021-2022, the exhibition will feature around 160 artworks, both new and old. Pencil drawings from Paris in 1970, self-portraits from the 1980s and other works will also be on display.
Buy tickets to the exhibition here.
(Hero and feature image credit: National Portrait Gallery)
This story first appeared on Prestige Online Singapore.
Trinetra is an ardent foodie and bibliophile who writes about films, travel, food and lifestyle. As a writer and literature student, slam poetry and storytelling are her go to jam. When not working, Trinetra is busy looking for her next place to visit or binge-watching Instagram videos for travel inspiration.
