David Hockney 25 at The Fondation Louis Vuitton

I booked my trip to Paris around February or March, before I heard of the David Hockney 25 exhibition, currently at the Fondation Louis Vuitton until August 31, 2025.

Would I have travelled especially to see it? You bet! But nothing prepared me for what I experienced when I visited. I have seen many Hockney exhibitions. The latest one was at The Lightroom in Kings Cross. David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away). In fact, the large-scale projection was so incredible and amazing, I saw it three times (over a period of 18 months). It is no longer showing.

In Paris, from the time of entry (with airport like security), to the time we left (around five hours later) I was in my happy place. As well as the exquisite Frank Ghery designed building, everything about this exhibition was ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The vastness of the rooms gave each piece space to breathe. An exhibition is as good as its curator. This was entirely curated by David Hockney himself and it guided us perfectly to how he wanted us to see his progression of work.

As a big Hockney fan I’ve seen a lot. But there was so much newness for me - it was exhilarating. I remember the fantastic four part documentary about his time and work in Normandy. Seeing those paintings up close was such a treat.



There were photographs and studies on paper. It just all flowed seamlessly in a most incredible setting. Popular exhibitions tend to be full and in London I always feel crammed, with people trying to push passed you. It always feels like they are allowing too many people in at the same time. Not so here! It felt airy, spacious and everyone (and I mean everyone) was courteous, kind and considerate. People came from all over the world just for the exhibition. People chatted to each other. You heard every language under the sun. I’ve never chatted so much to strangers in an exhibition. To me it felt like London in 2012 when we hosted the Olympics. It had that same air of tolerance and collective happiness.

There are 11 rooms in total and it was like walking through joy 🤩 aliveness, a plethora of colour and a painter’s life well lived, sharing his 1960’s portraits to late careers landscapes. Like Matisse I feel he’s going back to basics and seeing his work from the past few years has been humbling.

I particularly liked the photographs of Hockney working in his studio and I'm sharing some here. It’s the most extensive retrospective of the now 87 year old Hockney, featuring works from 1955 to 2025. 

It’s immersive - a bit of the London Lightroom experience in one of the rooms showing his opera designs. There is something for everyone. If you can get to it, you won't be sorry. In fact, I predict it's the most popular exhibition of 2025.