Sarah Howgate – författare

This book, which accompanies the first major exhibition devoted to David Hockney’s drawings inover 20 years,will explore Hockney as a draughtsman from the 1950s to now, with a focus on himself, his family and friends. From Ingres to the iPad –this book demonstrates the artist’s ingenuity in portrait drawing with reference to both tradition and technology.David Hockney is recognised as one of the master draughtsmen of our times and a champion of the medium. This book will feature Hockney’s work from the 1950s to now and focus on his depictions of himself and a smaller group of sitters close to him: his muse, Celia Birtwell; his mother, Laura Hockney; and his friends, the curator, Gregory Evans, and master printer, Maurice Payne.This book will examine not only how drawing is fundamental to Hockney’s distinctive way of observing the world around him, but also how it has been a testing ground for ideas and modes of expression later played out in his paintings.From Old Masters to modern masters, from Holbein to Picasso, Hockney’s portrait drawings reveal his admiration for his artistic predecessors and his continuous stylistic experimentation throughout his career.Alongside an in-depth essay from the curator, this book will feature an exclusive interview between author and curator, Sarah Howgate, and artist, David Hockney. In addition, an ‘In Focus’ essay by British Museum curator Isabel Seligman, will explore the relationship between Hockney, Ingres and Picasso drawings.

A unique exploration of self-portraits by two artists born nearly a century apart This beautifully illustrated book draws together for the first time the work of French artist Claude Cahun (1894-1954) and British contemporary artist Gillian Wearing (b. 1963). Although they were born almost a century apart, their work shares similar themes--gender, identity, masquerade, and performance. In 2015, Sarah Howgate traveled with Wearing to the island of Jersey, in the English Channel, where Cahun lived and worked until her death, and where her archive is housed. In examining Cahun's photographs, Wearing was struck by the remarkable parallels with her own explorations of the self-image through photography. Cahun was a contemporary of Andre Breton and Man Ray, but her work was rarely exhibited during her lifetime. Wearing, who has exhibited extensively and is a recipient of Britain's prestigious Turner Prize, was no stranger to Cahun's work when she made the trip to Jersey--her 2012 self-portrait, Me as Cahun holding a mask of my face, is a reconstruction of Cahun's iconic Self-portrait, made in 1927.In this book, Howgate examines the work of both artists, investigating how their cultural, historical, political, and personal contexts have affected their interpretations of similar themes. This book features stunning reproductions of more than ninety key works, presented thematically by artistic evolution, performance, masquerade, and memento mori, among others. Also included are new works by Wearing, a revealing interview with her by Howgate, and an illuminating essay on Cahun by writer and curator Dawn Ades. Exhibition schedule: National Portrait Gallery, London March 9-May 29, 2017