David Hockney – A true modern master

‘Savings and Loan Building’, by David Hockney – 1967

The freshness of this image is a joy to see. The geometric façade of the building, with the subtleties of colours and strong, upright lines, sets an exciting dynamic against the horizontal lines in a seemingly random way, which it certainly is not. The Palm trees and other foliage set diagonally have another subtle dynamic. The landscape format of the building goes against the portrait format of the whole. The wider upright struts subtly extend just above the top line. The higher mast on the right interrupts the simplicity of rectangles. Even the blue background has vitality enlivened and made exciting with the Rothkoesque deeper blue stripe at the top. This is another masterclass of seemingly simplistic shapes and colours.