The Arrival Of Spring In Woldgate East Yorkshire 4th May 2011
Signed Print

A throng of wildflowers and weeds encircle an old tree at the edge of a forest. Its trunk is covered in fine lines, its branches outlined in black to create a spidery network that reflects the life below it. The Arrival Of Spring In Woldgate East Yorkshire 4th May 2011 is one of 49 digital drawings David Hockney created on his iPad which later became prints in an edition of 25. The series celebrates not just the arrival of spring and the changes of the season but the artist’s return to his homeland after many decades spent in California. With these works we see him witnessing and taking pleasure in the minor signs that mark the end of winter, from the changes in light to the growing of seedlings and the sudden appearance of blossom. The tradition of the pastoral idyll however, is contrasted with the contemporaneity of the medium, a digital screen which allows him to work en plein air as if with a sketchbook and to reproduce his work multiple times without the need for an etching plate, a print studio or assistant. With the iPad Hockney found newfound freedom in print, which has allowed him to remain as prolific and dynamic in his old age as in his youth.