

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
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- 02 Oct – Annie Leibovitz (1949–), American portrait photographer
- 03 Oct – Eleonora Duse (1858–1924), Italian actress
- 04 Oct – JĂłhanna SigurðardĂłttir (1942–), Icelandic politician, former Prime Minister of Iceland, world's first openly gay head of government
- 08 Oct – Kristanna Loken (1979–), American model & actress
- 11 Oct – Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962), former First Lady of the USA & human rights activist
- 15 Oct – Jenna Talackova, Canadian beauty pageant contestant, model & TV personality
- 17 Oct – Laura Nyro (1947–1997), American songwriter, singer & pianist
- 18 Oct – Brittney Griner (1990–), American basketball player
- 18 Oct – Martina Navratilova (1956–), American tennis player
- 22 Oct – Saffron Burrows (1972–), English actress
- 23 Oct – Jean Acker (1893–1978), American actress
- 23 Oct – Ireland Baldwin (1995–), American model
- 23 Oct – Lilyan Tashman (1896–1934), American actress
- 25 Oct – Chely Wright (1970–), American country singer-songwriter
- 25 Oct – Claude Cahun (1894–1954), French artist, photographer & writer
- 26 Oct – Liliane Maestrini (1987–), Brazilian beach volleyball player
- 27 Oct – Katherine Bradley (1846–1914), English poet
- 28 Oct – Caitlyn Jenner (1949–), American TV personality & Olympic Gold Medalist in Decathlon (1976)
- 29 Oct – Michelle Brooke-Marciniak (1973–), American business executive, former WNBA basketball player
- 29 Oct – Ann-Marie MacDonald (1958–), Canadian playwright, novelist, actress & broadcast journalist
- 31 Oct – Natalie Clifford Barney (1876–1972), American playwright, poet and novelist