David Hockney
(2009)
 

The monumental scale of these landscapes results in a paintings that emits the palpable sense of the dramatic beauty that Hockney saw in the Yorkshire landscape. 

In this case, depicting a copse of majestic, tall trees, a series of strong verticals dominate the upper portion of the canvases. The fastidious nature of these solid upright forms is disrupted only by delicate branches that emerge from the trunks at acute angles. In the middle-ground, this verticality is contrasted by the horizontal arrangement of the freshly felled trees that lie to the side of the country lane, their pale color contrasting with the dark tomes of their living counterparts. The foreshortening of their limbs acts to draw the eye into the composition, contrasting with the dominant vertical of the totemic trees (as Hockney termed them) such as the one that stands guard over its fallen comrades. Finally, the gentle curve of the country lane as it sweeps through the composition offsets and softens the strict rigidity of the rest of the overall composition.

https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6397134

Winter Timber
2009
Oil on canvas in 15 parts
Overall: 274.3 x 609.6 cm
Private collection (Sold by Christie’s on 9 Nov 2022)
https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6397134