HOCKNEY LANDSCAPES

I'm not a fan of Hockney's minimalist paintings of naked guys in swimming pools, but I like the landscapes he did later in life.

I think this (above) is from Yorkshire in England. It's an example of intellect and style successfully imposed on nature. It's the way an artist organizes what he sees, and makes it pleasing.

Of course real life (above) is more chaotic and gritty. Plants fight for sunlight, grey overcast skies attempt to snuff out everything underneath...well, not really, but it can feel that way.
 

Here (above) Hockney imposes less order on what he sees. It's beautiful but kind of scary, too.

Above, one more variant. I get the feeling that Hockney has tired of this view and is looking forward to trying something else.

Here (above) we're confronted with the mystery of ordinary life. Massive predatory clouds wonder over fields of dense, complex living things. It's extraordinary and commonplace at the same time.

For comparison, here's (above) a Kandinsky showing riders galloping down a hill. I'm not surprised that so many great abstract artists had a background in landscape painting. It's the ideal subject for abstraction. Nature is full of shapes and colors that contradict and reinforce each other at the same time. It always confronts the viewer with a problem and a challenge.