Hockney - Van Gogh

• Art and design
• Upper Secondary (Key Stage 4)

Introduction

An interactive lesson about looking carefully, and about the parallels between the work of David Hockney and Vincent van Gogh. It includes a drawing exercise for pupils to do on their mobile phones. They can carry out this lesson independently.

Instructions

General learning objectives
• Pupils will learn about the work of David Hockney and Vincent van Gogh.
• Pupils will be able to name similarities and differences between the work of the two artists.
• Pupils will experiment with drawing on their phones (inspired by Hockney’s iPad drawings)

Materials required
- Smartphone

Hockney - Van Gogh

David Hockney painting The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011

Who?!

This lesson is about two famous artists: David Hockney and Vincent van Gogh.
But who were these two men? Find out on the next slide.

Happy now with what you know? Click to go to the short film.

Artist Vincent van Gogh

Title Sunflowers

Date 1889

Collection Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

An introduction:

Vincent van Gogh

- Grew up in the Netherlands;
- lived in four countries (the Netherlands, England, Belgium and France);
- decided on his 27th birthday to become an artist
- painted almost 900 paintings, made many drawings, and wrote hundreds of letters;
- was not famous in his own lifetime;
- is an extremely famous painter now. In 1990, one of his paintings sold for 82.5 million dollars.

- was tijdens zijn leven niet bekend;

- is tegenwoordig een erg bekende schilder. In 1990 werd er 82,5 miljoen dollar voor een van zijn werken betaald.

David Hockney

- Grew up in England;
- lives and works in England (and also lived in California);
- makes different kinds of art, including paintings, iPad drawings and videos;
- has been a famous artist for a long time. In 2018, his 1972 painting, Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), was auctioned for 90 million dollars.

About himself:

Well I, I'm called David Hockney, I'm 81 years of age, I'm still painting away. I painted for 60 years now. I'm still painting and I'm still enjoying it, enormously, yes.

Artist Vincent van Gogh

Title Self-Portrait as a Painter

Date 1887

Collection Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

David Hockney painting Woldgate Woods, 26, 27 & „30 July 2006

Looking

‘I’ve always found the world quite beautiful, looking at it. Just looking. And that’s an important thing I share with Vincent van Gogh: we both really, really enjoy looking at the world.’

David Hockney, 2018.

Assignment

How do you go about looking?
On the next ten slides you’ll see paintings by Hockney and Van Gogh. Look at them closely. Pay attention to the similarities and differences. What do you notice? After looking at the paintings you will be asked two questions about them.

Tips on looking

Not sure what exactly you should be paying attention to when looking and comparing?
Try thinking about: subject, colour, shape, line, perspective, composition and technique.

Artist David Hockney

Title The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire

Date 2011

Collection Centre Pompidou, Paris

Artist Vincent van Gogh

Title The Garden of Saint Paul's Hospital ('Leaf-Fall')

Date 1889

Collection Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Artist David Hockney
Title Kilham to Langtoft
Date 2005
Collection Collection of the artist

Artist Vincent van Gogh

Title The Harvest

Date 1888

Collection Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Artist David Hockney

Title Under the Trees, Bigger

Date 2010-2011

Collection Collection of the artist

Artist Vincent van Gogh

Title Undergrowth

Date 1889

Collection Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Artist David Hockney
Title 17 May (The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011)
Date 2011
Collection The David Hockney Foundation

Artist Vincent van Gogh

Title Butterflies and Poppies

Date 1890

Collection Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Artist David Hockney

Title May Blossom on the Roman Road

Date 2009

Collection Collection of the artist

Artist Vincent van Gogh

Title Wheatfield with Crows

Date 1890

Collection Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

What similarities do you see in the work of Hockney and Van Gogh? List them below.

Did you also notice differences? List the most important ones below.

'Stealing'

You probably noticed a lot of similarities and differences between the works. That’s no coincidence. Hockney is inspired by Van Gogh’s drawings and paintings.

Click on the hotspot below to see what Hockney says about this.

Hockney on Van Gogh

‘Well, sometimes I’ll steal something from Van Gogh, I mean, I do. Good artists don’t borrow, they steal. They don’t quote, they steal.’

Artist Vincent van Gogh

Title The Rock of Montmajour with Pine trees

Date 1888

Collection Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

‘Soms steel ik weleens iets van Van Gogh, dat is zo. Goede kunstenaars ontlenen niets aan anderen, maar stelen. Ze kopiëren niet, ze stelen. Van Goghs schilderijen zijn vol beweging. Alles lijkt in beweging te zijn. Hij is een geweldig kunstenaar.’

Drawing

Drawing is very important for both Hockney and Van Gogh. It helps you to look more effectively.
Van Gogh drew on paper. These days Hockney often works on his iPad. He uses it to make drawings such as this one.

Click on the hotspot to read what Hockney says about it. 

Drawing on the iPad

'Well, then I heard about the iPad coming out and (...) I got one of the first iPads sent to Bridlington and I started drawing on it and the first thing I did was just to take every kind of brush they had and make marks on it, because it's just about mark making and (...) the colour in the iPad, you get any colour you want really and it was all beautifully simple (...) and straightforward and once I discovered what each did, I could, I got very very good at using it.'

Artist David Hockney
Title 17 May (The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011)
Date 2011
Collection The David Hockney Foundation

And now it’s your turn…

Hockney used his phone for drawing too. You can also try. Follow the steps below. Good luck!

Step 1: Choose a subject

Choose a subject. Don’t know what to draw? Look around you, or go outside. Nothing grabbing your attention? Then you could look at the work of Van Gogh or Hockney and draw one in your own style.

Step 2: Drawing in Notes or another app

Open the app “Notes” on your phone.
Choose the pencil and paper icon at the bottom right.
Choose a pen and colour and get drawing.

If you don’t have this app, open Whatsapp or Snapchat. Take a photo of the ground or a white sheet of paper and get to work with the pens.

Technique tip

Use bright colours like Van Gogh and Hockney, and lots of dots, strokes, curls and stripes… have a good look at the drawing on the left.

Artist David Hockney
Title 18 December (The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011)
Date 2011
Collection The David Hockney Foundation

How did it go? Share your drawing here.