The Serpentine Gallery is to present an exhibition of new and recent works by David Hockney. The exhibition will showcase a series of new paintings by the artist, specifically for the Serpentine, alongside the artist’s monumental frieze, A Year in Normandie (2020-2021), on view in London for the first time. Admission to the exhibition will be free, marking the artist’s first presentation at the Serpentine.
The show unveils a new body of work by the celebrated British artist, comprising five still lifes and five portraits of members of his close circle, including his family and carers. These paintings are united by their frontal composition and the recurring motif of a gingham tablecloth that serves as the setting for each composition. In these new works, Hockney combines abstract and figurative modes of representation. For the artist, all figurative painting is inherently abstract, so long as it exists upon a flat surface.
Accompanying the exhibition, Serpentine will present a large-scale printed mural by David Hockney in the garden at Serpentine North. The work highlights a scene from A Year in Normandie’s spring cycle, depicting a tree house. The monumental digital print will be displayed at the back of the North Gallery, echoing its creation in David Hockney’s own garden in Normandy.
David Hockney, Abstraction Resting on a Red and White Checkered Tablecloth, 2025. Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 48 in. (91.4 x 121.9 cm) © David Hockney. Photo Prudence Cuming.
David Hockney said: “I have always believed that art should be a deep pleasure…There is always, everywhere, an enormous amount of suffering, but I believe that my duty as an artist is to overcome and alleviate the sterility of despair… New ways of seeing mean new ways of feeling… I do believe that painting can change the world.”
Bettina Korek, CEO, Serpentine, said: “David Hockney’s work invites us to slow down, to look closely, and to reconnect with the world around us. Presenting A Year in Normandie, alongside new paintings, at Serpentine North reflects our belief in fostering new connections between artists and audiences. We are delighted to welcome visitors to encounter these works freely, in the park.”
Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director, Serpentine, said: “We are excited to present a new exhibition by one of the world’s most celebrated artists. At 88, David Hockney continues to explore the language of painting with remarkable ingenuity, fusing figurative and abstract modes across still lifes, portraits, and a panoramic frieze comprising more than 100 iPad paintings. In his new portraits, he captures not only his sitters but also the act of seeing itself, while the frieze offers a deeply personal meditation on the passage of time. The changing seasons will resonate throughout the gallery, and a new mural in the garden of Serpentine North highlights the transition from spring to summer as the surrounding landscape undergoes its own renewal.”
A Year in Normandie and Some Other Thoughts about Painting will also present Hockney’s celebrated frieze, A Year in Normandie (2020-2021), which will extend across the perimeter gallery of Serpentine North, charting the change of seasons at the artist’s former studio in Normandy, France.
Recommending that people slow down and notice the beauty of the world around them, Hockney believes that everyday cycles, like a sunrise, are worth celebrating. While the world came to a halt in the Spring of 2020, Hockney continued his close observations of the world around him by producing over a hundred digital paintings on his iPad, working swiftly and intuitively, much as the Impressionists did. Chinese scroll paintings and the eleventh-century Bayeux Tapestry inspired the format of A Year in Normandie. Hockney’s digital painting tools allowed him to capture the essence of each scene, skilfully recording changes in light and weatheren plein air. His radiant compositions combine flat areas of bold colour with playful pop-like touches. As the days pass, spring transitions into summer, then into autumn, and finally into winter.
Accompanying the exhibition, Serpentine and Franz und Walther Koenig will publish a catalogue designed by the artist. The publication will bring together new and insightful contributions from Marco Livingstone and Olivia Laing. Generously illustrated in colour throughout, it also features an extensive conversation between David Hockney and Serpentine’s Artistic Director, Hans Ulrich Obrist.
David Hockney: A Year in Normandie and Some Other Thoughts about Painting is curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director, and Claude Adjil, Curator at Large, with Liz Stumpf, Assistant Exhibitions Curator.
Celebrating Turner Contemporary’s 15th anniversary this spring, David Hockney will realise the next Sunley Window at the gallery opening on 1 April 2026. Measuring seven by ten metres, Hockney’s work will transform the gallery’s iconic floor-to-ceiling window in the Sunley Gallery overlooking Margate’s beaches and the North Sea.
David Hockney (b. 1937 in Bradford, Yorkshire, U.K.) is one of the most influential artists of our time. Throughout his seven-decade spanning career, the British artist remains endlessly inventive and committed to celebrating the world around him, epitomised by his signature phrase, “Love Life.” A deep fascination with perspective and a desire to investigate how we see and represent the world led him to explore a range of artistic mediums from painting to photographic collages, set design, drawing and printmaking. Hockney’s use of new technology extends his interest in different modes of capturing reality. From his Polaroid composites to fax machine drawings and, in recent years, his iPad paintings, he seeks to unlock the potential of each technology for creating art.
David Hockney: A Year in Normandie and Some Other Thoughts about Painting, Serpentine North from 12 March to 23 August 2026.
Top Photo: David Hockney working on iPad: David Hockney, Normandy, 2021 © David Hockney Photo Credit: Jonathan Wilkinson