‘Englishness’ captured
I was 18 and driving tractors, running grain trailers during harvest in the Yorkshire Wolds. The grain pumped from the moving combines across vast fields spread-eagled across the hilltops. It was our job to keep them moving by trundling the grain down the escarpments into the silos below. We’d let the brakes off at the top and allow the loaded three-tonne trailers behind us to propel us down the narrow unmade limestone lanes. We would disgorge the grain in seconds and charge back up the hillsides to join the combines just before their own storage tanks became full.
I have never since been back to what we then called the East Riding of Yorkshire and those rolling Wolds. Until Friday that is, when I entered David Hockney’s massive show at the Royal Academy. And suddenly I was back, on the endless patchwork of contrasting fields, amongst the trees and vibrant colour that so describes one of England’s least explored jewels.
Hockney throws purple, red, bilious turquoise green, across the landscape and bombards the eye with every aspect that makes up this most English landscape. In fact, he must be the most English painter since Stanley Spencer, and Constable long before him. But neither of those two greats ever dared venture where Hockney has gone. And where he’s gone connects with that adolescent lovelorn student tractor driver. For as much as the fields, it was the shape of the trees – close up, and distant that dominated the eye. And so it does in Hockney’s show. One is swamped, overwhelmed, and swept along from vast one wall pieces, to densely packed gentle water colours, beauteous charcoal drawings and finally to the iPad glories.
Read more: David Hockney’s bigger pictures – photo gallery
After ten enormous rooms of vibrant colour and shape, I was reeling, and yes I admit, thrilled.
On Saturday and Sunday, I was walking in the Berkshire downs. There was the vibrant deep pink willow that Hockney claimed, and I had disbelieved. He sees colour where we see grey. The whole is unashamedly English. Amid the current debate about ‘Britishness’, Scotland, and the United Kingdom, I have long since given up on thinking about Englishness. But if I need a reminder of what is English, I shall turn the pages of Hockney’s exhibition catalogue. But before resorting to the printed page, catch it in the flesh whilst stocks last, either at the Academy, or by taking a train.
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There are 30 comments on this post
Being a journalist and travelling the globe may put a block in memory networks , however I cannot see why you commented on forgetting about ‘Englishness’ Is there an essential or is the notion an attempt to fix a perception in time. I have a feeling of Englishness when dignity ,patience and kindness are surrounding me, but where do we go back in time to find that point which many others recognise as home.
We can relate to the environment we find ourselves in due to the temperate climate and geological systems global movement has handed us.
For as long as I can remember England has been multicultural, but there again I worked within the NHS from 1968 and race was never an issue, so surely Englishness does not exclude colour and genetics.
The Church of England has moulded perceptions in the last few centuries, but that doesn’t necessarily include a christian following . I comment more on social values which infiltrated schools ,youth centres, brownies , guides and scouts. By belonging, we adopted an inherent sense of what it is to be English.
A blackbird has just scuttled accross my patio joining two blue tits on the lattice work.They know they belong in my garden.
Two Blackbirds just scared off a Blue Tit and five Sparrows from our lawn (where the grub be scattered). No worry, they will come back – they are English – they ‘belong’ !
i think the picture look lousy ,, unreal,,,too brightly coloured,, like a childs painting,,
we all see things differently,,, john radford
I couldn’t agree more!
The Englishness that I remember was equally beautiful although not quite as colourful as Hockney’s.
Unfortunately, Englishness has been eroded over the years by liberal hand-wringers who seem ashamed of our history.
We are now dictated to by every minority that thinks that they have a right to appeal to that anti-democratic disgrace; the European (dis)Union!
Being a minority does not make you noble or victimized, and does not entitle you to anything.
We have always welcomed immigrants to this country but the lunacy of multiculturalism has destroyed our Englishness in whole areas of the country by allowing ghettos from Europe, Asia and Africa (I exclude Earls Court, of course) to flourish.
We should say to potential immigrants:
YOU ARE WELCOME HERE, IN OUR COUNTR; welcome to come legally:
1. Get a sponsor !
2. Learn the LANGUAGE, as immigrants have in the past !
3. Live by OUR rules ! Dress as we English do.
4. Get a job!
5. Pay YOUR Taxes!
6. No Social Security until you have earned it and paid for it !
7. NOW find a place to lay your head!
If you do not like this then return from whence you came and try to change your own country.
We may then return to Englishness.
Being a minority does not make you noble or victimized, and does not entitle you to anything.’
‘Tell that to the minority who control the bulk of the wealth in this country, at the expense of the rest of us.
I have done, Sam, but those in ermine and those who aspire to ermine aren’t listening.
Democracy as you and I know it has gone for a drachma! What arrogance to try to instruct the Greeks to put off elections?
Non-parliamentarians like us know that the EU is doomed unless Rumpy Pumpy manages to ban elections throughout Europe. For we know that politicians will do a ‘U-Turn’ on austerity measures just as soon as anonymity beckons!
Sam, Do you think Eric Pickles read my blog yesterday?
Eric Pickles hasn’t a prayer!
Call me Phillistine if you will , but i see little merit in Hockney’s paintings,and am amazed that anyone would pay the vast sums they do to own one.
It reminds me too of current Englishness, Brash,discordant,anti establishment,total disregard of beauty or sense.
To compare Hockney with Constable and Spencer, is like comparing a wooden shack with a stately home.or the scrawlings of a chimp with a true artist.
Let those who see something in his work do so ,and those who do not wish to spend their money on a thing of beauty do so,for that is what freedom is about.I just do not share the enthusiam for his work
Philistine
Saltaire Sam may be just a tad biased, coming from the home of Hockney’s art on permanent free display at Salt’s Mill in Saltaire.
But I too admire Hockney, not so much for his paint-on-canvas outputs but more for his creativity in forever adopting and adapting new image technolgies as they come along, using them in new ways to generate new slants on the art of imagery. Fax machines, dot-matrix printers, iPads and more have all been stretched in his creative hands over the years.
As a former pupil of the same school as Hockney, it is clear the art teaching there succeeded with some but utterly failed with others, principally myself. However, we both learned to smoke enthusiastically and that common lesson at least has stayed with us. Long may our smoke continue to curl upwards and his art continue to move on.
Nice review of a man who really looks by a man who can clearly see what is in front of him.
Absolutely. Sadly it is only in London, and in Scotland where I now live, and NOT in the English countryside, where I was surrounded by tolerance, patience and dignity. Question, answer yes or no:
SHOULD ENGLAND BECOME AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY?
Off topic – what’s become of all C4News’ bloggers? I suspect they have all fallen in love with twittering and forgotten those of us who want a bit more than 140 characters.
You are a character in yourself Sam.
Art is perceptual Adrian .It does not need to correlate to a photographic image. It is an emotional response to the world around , which others hopefully can relate to.(coz they want to get paid)
It is perhaps too intellectualised for us mere bloggers for I personally dont respond to modern art , but I may have a closed mind about this. I try to open it and can get the impressionists and the tactility of their light focused works , but there it stops. I can’t even appreciate Picasso , but Pissaro yes.
Last summer I tripped to the Tate Modern(it was free)Some of the junk on display there made me think why at school we ever learned form , perspective ,balance , tone and the effects of light.
Why were we invited to take a starting point and follow it through to the vanishing point?
Why were we taught to repeat a colour in context with the whole composition?
I love the individuality of brushstokes and is why I prefer oil to water colour , however to be organised into something which leaves me empty is not want I want on my wall.
They’re on their half term break?
Sam, Sue here reporting back for duty after extended xmas/new year hiatus. I see most of the usual suspects are back now too
Abouit time Sue. What do you think you are, an MP
Have had flu – first time in life – and it lasted two weeks! Just took a look at Snowblog and dismayed at how much catching up I have to do. But you’re right, Sam. I do use Twitter, daily. A useful campaigning tool. Jon generally tweets links to his Snowblog, but must have missed this. Will catch up tomorrow.
Meantime re Hockney: about to frame 3 pics cut from the Guardian (Adrian will now be apoplectic). And will try and visit Saltaire to see the permanent exhibition.
Jon,
Ask former victims of the British Empire what they think of “Englishness.” It might give you a broader perspective.
Didn’t the last century provide enough proof that nationalism in almost any form is evil, quasi-eugenic nonsense?
And when Gandhi was asked what he thought of Western Civilisation didn’t he say, accurately, “It would be a good idea”?
As for colour – it knows no national boundary or imagined identity. Hockney’s current view of it is hugely affected by the more consistent, brighter light of California. The same applied to the colours in Van Gogh and Gaugin and their geographical locations.
If your colour perception is jaded it’s because you’ve spent too long in that characterless grey rat-hole, London. Hence your air of surprise when you encounter primary colours, sensibly used. Hockney is like all true artists (whether to your taste or not) – he can’t help but react to his circumstances and life experience.
As for “Englishness,” there’s no such thing. We are as “mongrel” as any other nation. And a good thing too.
As a matter of interest, when did you last spend any time in London Philip. I was brought up for 18 years in the north & have lived in London since 1970. It isn’t a characterless greyy rat-hole but a vibrant, constantly changing extraordinarily character-full citywith an immense variety of cultural, architectural and artistic experiences. There are two sides to many things, but you can either take a positve view of the world or enjoy seeing only the negative: that bilious way leads to ulcers and worse, my friend.
You can still call it the East Riding of Yorkshire. It was reinstated in 1996 when the hated Humberside was abolished and wiped from the map.
I probably will not make it to the actual exhibition but I did see Hockney talking about hsi paintings on a recent edition of Countryfile (BBC) of all places. The combination of Hockney talking about his paintings standing in the very scenes he was depicting in paint and on his iPad as he spoke was truly a revelation.
I really liked them but not sure if several rooms full of such bright colours would be just a tad overwhelming.
Another great piece of writing Jon. Hockney is one of the few British artists to have maintained a consistency and longevity in his career. You have however opened a can of worms on art criticism, politics and needless elitism. One one hand we have the disregard for the new. Hockney’s book here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Knowledge-Rediscovering-techniques-Masters/dp/0500286388/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329762267&sr=1-5 exposes some of the ‘classical and ‘great’ painters of the past as tracers with old age overhead projectors.
Moonbeach’s rant is blatantly racist and ruined todays posting for me. Socio-economic oppression in terms of racism in England is a fact from ethnic minorities through to other non-english, white Europeans. I myself an unemployed person from Northern Ireland have many times been called a ‘pikey’ which is the English equivalent of gypsy in derogatory terms. This is because I don’t drive and can’t afford my own house. However in Northern Ireland I would be regarded as middle class because I live in my fathers house. Poor in England with racism or poor in Northern Ireland without work. Linguistic relativity with an accent = Less Pay + Exploitation.
Why is it ok to be “elite” ie. extremely good at sport, but not at anything else?
I also saw that episode of Countryfile and you are right, it was a revelation. Amazing images he had created electronically but yet they truly reflected what the eye was seeing – if that eye could perceive the colour and light that was in front of it rather than what our conditioned brains expect to be seeing.
The main picture here doesnt do justice to what Hockney has created as it is a close detail of something that should be viewed as a whole in order to fully appreciate the beauty.
Today we had a meeting with some of the leading figures in the NHS and they all agreed with our reform plans so we will go ahead.
The kind of Englishness taught at Eton?
Not living near the metropolis I visited yesterday the exhibition of Hockney’s “Bigger Trees near Warter” at the Cartwright Hall, Bradford. Absolutely stunning – and, yes, English as we know it in Yorkshire villages. The Cartwright also houses works of art by other people connected with Bradford – many of them of Islamic origin.
What be any nationality ?
But, being born and bred and still resident in England + being white = one has no identity ‘issues’.
Those with identity ‘issues’ should look at themselves and their families and decide – in or out ?
A framed print of a Hockney could remind them of ‘home’ !