Serpentine is set to welcome one of Britain’s most celebrated artists back into the public eye with David Hockney: A Year in Normandie and Some Other Thoughts about Painting, opening at Serpentine North from 12 March to 23 August 2026. Bringing together new paintings and the monumental frieze A Year in Normandie (2020–2021), the exhibition marks Hockney’s first presentation at Serpentine, and it’s free to visit.
At its heart is A Year in Normandie, a panoramic work comprising more than 100 iPad paintings made during the first year of the pandemic. Created at Hockney’s former studio in Normandy, the frieze charts the slow unfurling of the seasons, from the first light of spring through summer, autumn and winter. Inspired by Chinese scroll paintings and the Bayeux Tapestry, it wraps around the perimeter gallery; allowing viewers to experience the passing of time as a physical journey.
David Hockney, A Year in Normandie (detail), 2020-2021.
Composite iPad painting © David Hockney.
Alongside the frieze, Hockney presents a new group of paintings made especially for Serpentine including five still lifes and five portraits depicting members of his close circle, including family and carers. Unified by their direct, frontal compositions and the recurring presence of a gingham tablecloth, the works move fluidly between abstraction and figuration. For Hockney, the distinction is beside the point; as he has long maintained, all painting is abstract once it exists on a flat surface.
The exhibition extends beyond the gallery walls with a large-scale printed mural installed in the garden at Serpentine North. Drawn from the spring section of A Year in Normandie and depicting a tree house, the work echoes its original setting in Hockney’s own garden, connecting both the park and painting. As the artist puts it, “new ways of seeing mean new ways of feeling… I do believe that painting can change the world.”
David Hockney, A Year in Normandie (detail), 2020-2021.
Composite iPad painting © David Hockney.
Hans Ulrich Obrist, Serpentine’s Artistic Director, notes that at 88, Hockney continues to explore painting “with remarkable ingenuity,” while CEO Bettina Korek reflects on how his work encourages us “to slow down, to look closely, and to reconnect with the world around us.”
A meditation on time, attention and everyday beauty, David Hockney: A Year in Normandie and Some Other Thoughts about Painting offers a generous invitation to pause and look again. Be sure to add it to your agenda this year as the Serpentine exhibition will be on show until 23 August.
Thomas Mupfupi Resting on a Pink and White Checkered Tablecloth, 2025. Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 48 in. (91.4 x 121.9 cm) © David Hockney. Photo: Prudence Cuming.
Jack Ransome Resting on an Orange and White Checkered Tablecloth, 2025. Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 48 in. (91.4 x 121.9 cm) © David Hockney. Photo: Prudence Cuming.
David Hockney, A Year in Normandie (detail), 2020-2021.
Composite iPad painting © David Hockney.
Abstraction Resting on a Green and White Checkered Tablecloth, 2025.
Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 48 in. (91.4 x 121.9 cm)
© David Hockney. Photo: Prudence Cuming.
Abstraction Resting on a Red and White Checkered Tablecloth, 2025.
Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 48 in. (91.4 x 121.9 cm)
© David Hockney. Photo: Prudence Cuming.
