The painting measures a staggering 4.6m by 12m. and is Hockney’s largest painting to date.
Bigger Trees Near Warter is a painting that shows a large coppice located in Warter, Yorkshire. It was during the months of February and March in 2007. Hockney used a mix of artistic media to create this piece of work, including the fusion of digital photography with painting in the outdoors in front of the coppice.
It is obvious that the painting was created just before Spring, as the branches are just in the early stages of producing new buds and leaves. The largest tree in the painting is that of a sycamore, and it dominates the canvas, behind which are several rows of smaller trees.
To the left of he canvas can be seen a road, and to the right, there are a couple of buildings. The top half of the canvas is predominantly covered by the wintry pale sky, of which the branches of the many trees have been painted.
The image of Bigger Trees Near Warter was painted when Hockney returned to his mother’s home in England, from his home in Los Angeles. He moved to America in 1978. He chose to spend much of his time in Yorkshire, as he was fascinated by the ruggedness of the hills and beautiful landscape.
He would return to same spot each year, to paint the naturally developing changes of the environment.
The painting is divided into large six panels, and although Hockney wanted to recreate the vast stunning oil paintings known from the Rennaisance, unlike those painters, he did not have a specifically built studio to house such a large canvas.
This was when he decided to use digital photography to capture this iconic and vast image. The painting took him three weeks to complete, not a target set by the Royal Academy, but rather by the seasons, as it had to be completed before Spring arrived.
