Welcome to Framed Thoughts - The Pentimento Blog
At Pentimento, we live and breathe the work of David Hockney. Not just the pictures themselves, but the stories they carry, the techniques they reinvent, and the ideas they challenge. Framed Thoughts is our space to explore the many facets of Hockney's world: from the mediums he's mastered (etching, lithography, iPad drawing, and beyond), to the market relevance of his limited edition prints, to the personal relationships and philosophies that underpin his art.
Expect deep dives into specific series, insider notes for collectors, reflections on major exhibitions, and untold stories behind the frames. If you're a seasoned Hockney collector, an art lover curious about his digital revolution, or simply someone intrigued by the evolving dialogue between tradition and innovation, keep an eye on our blog.
What's it all about?t
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Print Spotlights – short essays that unpack the stories, techniques and edition details behind individual works.
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Collector Guides – tips on framing, insurance, condition grading and current market trends, informed by the questions we answer every week in the gallery.
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Market & Exhibition News – summaries of the art market and reviews of new Hockney shows worldwide, building on the updates already featured in our News feed.
This blog will extend beyond the gallery floor. Whether you are considering your first Hockney poster or adding to your collection, wehope you will find clear, jargon-free guidance here.
We look forward to exploring the vibrant world of David Hockney's artworks with you.
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Pear Blossom Highway and A Bigger Card Players at Hockney 25 -
David Hockney - Reverse Perspective
David Hockney and Reverse Perspective: Challenging the Renaissance Gaze -
Exhibition Focus: David Hockney 25 - Fondation Louis Vuitton
A Retrospective Journey Through the Eyes of Britain's Greatest Living Artist -
Beyond the Vanishing Point: Hockney’s Joiners, Moving Focus & Modern Vision
Hockney's Views on Perspective, Space, and TimeDavid Hockney has long challenged traditional perspective, especially the Renaissance notion of a single, fixed vanishing point. He argues that this form of seeing flattens experience and limits the viewer's engagement. 'We see with two eyes, not one,' he says, 'and we move. The fixed-point perspective is an invention, not how we really see.'
His photographic joiners, for example Pearblossom Highway, combine multiple viewpoints into a single composition, reflecting how we visually experience the world over time. This approach is carried forward in his *Moving Focus* series and even in later iPad works, which often show spatial layering and shifting focal points.
Hockney has drawn on influences from Chinese scroll painting, Cubism, and stage design all of which offer alternatives to linear perspective. His work embraces what he calls 'reverse perspective' or 'theatrical space', where the viewer is invited in, rather than pushed back.
For Hockney, space and time are inseparable in visual experience. His art invites us not just to look, but to inhabit a picture, to move through it. This makes his work profoundly modern and deeply rooted in the act of seeing itself.
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From Oil to iPad: How David Hockney Reinvented Every Medium
What It Means for Collectors in 2025