To See Clearly
A Portrait of David Hockney
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
From award-winning creator Evan Turk, a stirring picture book biography of world-famous artist David Hockney that celebrates seeing beauty everywhere
“It’s the very process of looking at something that makes it beautiful.” —David Hockney
Growing up under the gray skies of England during World War II, David Hockney used art to brighten his world. He discovered that the more he looked and drew, the more he could see beneath the surface to find beauty, possibility, and new perspectives. In the most ordinary things, whether a splash of water, a changing landscape, or the face of a friend, David always found something to love, uniquely capturing the vibrancy and life of his subjects.
Lyrically written with breathtaking, full-color illustrations by Evan Turk, To See Clearly tells the inspiring story of a groundbreaking artist who has shown the world a new way to see.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Turk (The Red Tin Box) creates an affectionate, frank biography of artist David Hockney (b. 1937), a figure whose openhearted curiosity makes him particularly accessible for young readers. Growing up in a sooty Yorkshire mill town with parents who encouraged his talents, Hockney would cover scrap paper with drawings: "The more he looked and drew, the more he saw." The cinema nurtured a fascination with California; one of the book's many marvelous colored pencil, gouache, and crayon spreads shows a film flickering on the round glasses that would become Hockney's sartorial signature. Moving to Los Angeles in the early 1960s—a milestone portrayed in a fauve-like montage—Hockney finds endless inspiration in the landscape ("Palm trees! Surfers! Swimming pools! Everything seemed to pulse with color and excitement"). He also incorporates scenes of gay life in his paintings—"still very daring," even in "more accepting" Los Angeles. Hockney's place in art history was secured early on, as his first exhibition sold out and art collectors and museums sought his work, but "he always kept searching for new ways to see," and these pages are a fitting tribute to a joyful, restless, and fearless creative life, and to stopping and looking carefully. Ages 4–8.
