

David Hockney returns to the RA with a remarkable new body of work. Embracing portraiture with a renewed creative vigour, he offers an intimate snapshot of the LA art world and the people who have crossed his path over the last two years. As one of our most anticipated shows of the year, advance booking is essential for both Friends and visitors. After his monumental landscape exhibition burst to life in our Main Galleries in 2012, Hockney turned away from painting and from his Yorkshire home, returning to Los Angeles. Slowly he began to return to the quiet contemplation of portraiture, beginning with a depiction of his studio manager. Over the months that followed, he became absorbed by the genre and invited sitters from all areas of his life into his studio. His subjects all friends, family and acquaintances include office staff, fellow artists, curators and gallerists such as John Baldessari and Larry Gagosian. Each work is the same size, showing his sitter in the same chair, against the same vivid blue background and all were painted in the same time frame of three days. Yet Hockneys virtuoso paint handling allows their differing personalities to leap off the canvas with warmth and immediacy.
Address : Royal Academy, Burlington Gardens Site
6 Burlington Gardens,
London
W1S 3ET
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- 04 August – Sapphire (1950–), American author & performance poet
- 06 August – Carole Pope (1950–), Canadian rock singer-songwriter
- 07 August – Samantha Ronson (1977–), DJ, singer, songwriter
- 12 August – Gladys Bentley (1907–1960), American blues singer
- 12 August – Cara Delevingne (1992–), English model & actress
- 12 August – Merikukka Forsius (1972–), Finnish politician
- 12 August – Radclyffe Hall (1880–1943), English writer & poet
- 13 August – Gluck (1895–1978), English painter
- 13 August – Andrea Gibson (1975–), American spoken word poet
- 13 August – Jennifer Pritzker (1950–), American investor, philanthropist & former Lt. Col. U.S. Army
- 14 August – Jill Bennett (1975–), American actress
- 19 August – Renée Richards (1934–), American ophthalmologist, author & former professional tennis player
- 20 August – Maria Louise Pool (1841–1898), American writer
- 21 August – Luisa Isabel Álvarez de Toledo, 21st Duchess of Medina Sidonia (1936–2008), Spanish aristocrat
- 28 August – Nancy Kulp (1921–1991), American actress
- 29 August – Meshell Ndegeocello (1968–), American singer-songwriter, rapper & musician
- 29 August – Jeanette Winterson (1957–), English writer, broadcaster & activist
- 31 August – Alex Blackwell (1983–), Australian cricketer