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Filmed over three years, the documentary is an unprecedented record of a major artist at work. It captures David Hockney's return to England after 25 years in California. As he approaches the age of 70, he decides to re-invent his painting from scratch, working through the seasons and in all weathers out in the Yorkshire countryside - ending up with the largest picture ever made outdoors. It is at once the story of a homecoming and an intimate portrait of what inspires and motivates today's greatest living British-born artist as time runs out.
Winner of Best Essay award at the International Festival for Films on Art in Montreal and nominated Best Arts Documentary by the Grierson and International Emmy Awards. Premiered on BBC1, the documentary appears in a special extended 60' version.
Designed to appeal to art lovers and students alike, the DVD Extras consist of four new films, providing 55 minutes of additional behind-the-scenes material. They bring sharp and often startling insights to David Hockney's creative and working methods.
Reviews of the documentary:BBC Radio 4
"We will keep coming back to this wonderful film, it will be of lasting importance for future generations who want to understand Hockney's art"
The Sunday Times.
"an unqualified, life-enhancing joy from start to finish."
The Observer
"This impressive documentary is almost cinematic in its scope... both majestic and intimate"
The Times.
'This film may well be the best anyone will ever make about Hockney's process."
Time Out
"As gently hypnotic and fulfilling as one of Hockney's own works."
Marco Livingstone, Co-curator of the RA Exhibition 'David Hockney RA: A Bigger Picture'
"It's one of the best films I've seen about the artistic process for a very long time. It made a powerful impression on me. It is a film that will bear repeated viewings"
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I'm not an art critic, I bought this DVD primarily because I originate from the Yorkshire Wolds and have been fascinated by David Hockneys paintings of my childhood stomping ground. What I did not expect to see was such an amazing insight into the life of a true living legend. I am still completely bowled over by Bruno Wollheims portrayal of this most unusual, enigmatic but above all passionate artist. Thanks to Bruno's dedication for sticking with what must have been an extemely trying assignment and to David Hockney for giving the public a rare opportunity to see him at work. I give the DVD top marks and quite frankly look forward to watching it again.
If anyone is interested in Hockeys pictures of Woldgate and the surrounding area of Bridlington, I highly recommend this book, which is written in both German and English. 'David Hockney - Just Nature' ISBN 978-3-89929-154-4
If anyone is interested in Hockeys pictures of Woldgate and the surrounding area of Bridlington, I highly recommend this book, which is written in both German and English. 'David Hockney - Just Nature' ISBN 978-3-89929-154-4
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
`I was brought up in Bradford and Hollywood' David Hockney says at the beginning of the film, when `Hollywood was at the end of the street in the local cinema'. Quoting Billy Wilder, he says, laughing, `Scratch the tinsel in Hollywood and you'll find the real tinsel underneath'. Bruno Wollheim got to scratch Hockney's tinsel over three years `at the end of a glittering career as he searches for a grand finale'. Approaching his seventies, Hockney came home to paint the Yorkshire Wolds when Wollheim began making what turned into this remarkable film, an intimate portrayal that covers a lot of ground in an hour.
From boy wonder to grand old man, this might have been a tale told in pictures, Hockney's life, from A Bigger Splash to A Bigger Picture. That was Wollheim's original idea. However, he has ended up with something far more interesting and original, a film of an artist at work. `After running on empty for a time in California he's gone back to his roots to revitalise his art.' Wollheim follows the process, as Hockney paints, smokes, eats, drinks, strolls along the promenade at Bridlington, and splashes around in his Wellingtons at the end of a muddy lane, making marks on canvas. And we get to travel with him. We see something vary rare, the speed and order in which an artist makes those marks.
Edgy, unpredictable, and initially unfocused, the film documents not only a new departure for Hockney, `painting as an extreme sport, outside, on the spot, in all weathers', it builds towards `a bigger sensation', one 600 square foot image over 50 canvases that fill the largest wall in the Royal Academy - a very `Hollywood idea', as Nicholas Serota comments; `it's Cinerama, to lose yourself in the landscape and to lose yourself in the space'.
Pro-smoking, anti-jogging, firing off letters about school inspectors reporting against the value of drawing, complaining about mean-spirited, petty politicians, it would be easy to portray Hockney as a curmudgeonly grumpy old man; a national treasure but one who is getting on a bit. He is certainly aware of his own mortality. Whereas the truth of this film is that he is `on a roll', as creative as ever, an infectious spirit who `still feels he has something to discover'. He quotes Van Gogh: `he had lost the face of his father but he had found another in the infinity of nature'.
It may be a far cry from Hollywood but he has come home.
From boy wonder to grand old man, this might have been a tale told in pictures, Hockney's life, from A Bigger Splash to A Bigger Picture. That was Wollheim's original idea. However, he has ended up with something far more interesting and original, a film of an artist at work. `After running on empty for a time in California he's gone back to his roots to revitalise his art.' Wollheim follows the process, as Hockney paints, smokes, eats, drinks, strolls along the promenade at Bridlington, and splashes around in his Wellingtons at the end of a muddy lane, making marks on canvas. And we get to travel with him. We see something vary rare, the speed and order in which an artist makes those marks.
Edgy, unpredictable, and initially unfocused, the film documents not only a new departure for Hockney, `painting as an extreme sport, outside, on the spot, in all weathers', it builds towards `a bigger sensation', one 600 square foot image over 50 canvases that fill the largest wall in the Royal Academy - a very `Hollywood idea', as Nicholas Serota comments; `it's Cinerama, to lose yourself in the landscape and to lose yourself in the space'.
Pro-smoking, anti-jogging, firing off letters about school inspectors reporting against the value of drawing, complaining about mean-spirited, petty politicians, it would be easy to portray Hockney as a curmudgeonly grumpy old man; a national treasure but one who is getting on a bit. He is certainly aware of his own mortality. Whereas the truth of this film is that he is `on a roll', as creative as ever, an infectious spirit who `still feels he has something to discover'. He quotes Van Gogh: `he had lost the face of his father but he had found another in the infinity of nature'.
It may be a far cry from Hollywood but he has come home.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Shown first on BBC1 on their 'Imagine' series, and irrespective of whether you saw it then or not, if you love Hockney's painting, this is definitely worth purchacing as a keepsake. I have laready watched it once and am sure will do so again in the years to come. You see a great painter, in the act of painting, back to the place where he started from, at ease, and full of enthusiasm again. I doubt another filmmaker will get the access that Bruno Wolheim had, and given that he spent 3 years filming Hockney, and although the DVD is 8 mins. longer than the version shown on TV, I am sure there will be scope for a longer version sometine in the future. Hockney is a painter who, both in his paiting, and in conversation, teaches you to rub your tired eyes, and see the world around you afresh and to take delight in looking. Like Matisse, he understands there is endless pleasure to be had in colour and forms. This DVD is like meeting a sage who shows you 'the way'.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
An intimate portrait of the artist at work
Review by Catharine Pailey: I found this DVD absolutely fascinating and beautifully done. My husband & I toured the Yorkshire countryside last summer and think it is one of the... Read more
Published 3 days ago by Philip M W Pailey MD
An insight into a grand master at work
I was lucky enough to get to the exhibition at the Royal Academy which was amazing. Hockney's colours are so vivid and the study of the seasons, changing light and colours is... Read more
Published 15 days ago by SEB ROBERTS
Looking at a bigger picturre
I bought this as a present for a friend with whom I attend art classes. She loved it, has shown it to others, and has used Hockney's ideas in thinking about her own work. Read more
Published 17 days ago by justchalking
Wonderful DVD!
This is a first rate DVD! One that I'll repeatedly watch. I was unable to visit the exhibition but feel that watching this has given me an explicit view of the art, concepts... Read more
Published 29 days ago by Lilac Blossom
Shadowing the Artist
The film well contructed and very insightful. I really enjoyed the extras also. I plan to give a copy of it to a relative who is an artist for her birthday. Read more
Published 29 days ago by Denis Bridoux
What colour is a shadow?
I've watched A Bigger Picture three times, and expect to put it on again whenever I need a morale booster. Read more
Published 1 month ago by jakeysane
Enlightening film of a great artist
I greatly enjoyed this documentary film, both when I saw it on TV and then again when I watched this DVD. Read more
Published 1 month ago by skinnieminnie
Interesting insight to Hockney
This documentary is very well produced and is very interesting if you are interested in contemporary painting, or are simply a Hockney fan. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Ukulele Gipsy
A Smaller Review
Not much in the way of film to document David Hockney's work / thoughts - Melvyn Bragg did a very good one around the retrospective at the Tate in 1988. Read more
Published 1 month ago by James Oxley
Hockney's Legacy
I bought this DVD when I realised that I wouldn't get to London to see Hockney's 2012 exhibition `A Bigger Picture' at the Royal Academy. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Sally Smallthorne
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