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| David Hockney window at Westminster Abbey to honour Queen David Hockney window at Westminster Abbey to honour Queen | |
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| At the age of 79, the artist David Hockney is tackling a new medium and a new venue: a towering stained-glass window for Westminster Abbey to mark the reign of the Queen, the longest-serving monarch in British history. | At the age of 79, the artist David Hockney is tackling a new medium and a new venue: a towering stained-glass window for Westminster Abbey to mark the reign of the Queen, the longest-serving monarch in British history. |
| Hockney is promising “a landscape full of blossom that’s a celebration every year”. His design will fill half of one of the few remaining plain-glass windows in the north transept of the abbey – a space 1.8 metres (6ft) wide and 6 metres (20ft) high. It is likely the design will relate to his recent work, some of his best loved, monumental paintings of trees in his native Yorkshire. | Hockney is promising “a landscape full of blossom that’s a celebration every year”. His design will fill half of one of the few remaining plain-glass windows in the north transept of the abbey – a space 1.8 metres (6ft) wide and 6 metres (20ft) high. It is likely the design will relate to his recent work, some of his best loved, monumental paintings of trees in his native Yorkshire. |
| God and the Queen are among the few subjects on which Hockney has not expressed peppery views. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal two years ago, he said: “I’m not atheist, but I’m not a supporter of any organised religion. You can’t legislate religion. There’s always that question. What happens when we die?” | God and the Queen are among the few subjects on which Hockney has not expressed peppery views. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal two years ago, he said: “I’m not atheist, but I’m not a supporter of any organised religion. You can’t legislate religion. There’s always that question. What happens when we die?” |
| Having turned down a knighthood in 1990, he revealed to the BBC five years ago that he had been invited to paint a portrait of the Queen, but turned the commission down. “When I was asked, I told them I was very busy painting England actually. Her country.” | Having turned down a knighthood in 1990, he revealed to the BBC five years ago that he had been invited to paint a portrait of the Queen, but turned the commission down. “When I was asked, I told them I was very busy painting England actually. Her country.” |
| There was clearly no bad blood between them, as in 2012 she appointed him to the Order of Merit following the death of Lucian Freud, the only painter to have held the honour. Hockney went on to create an iPad drawing of the rain-sodden flotilla on the Thames that year to celebrate the Queen’s diamond jubilee. It featured diminutive figures of her and the Duke of Edinburgh standing resolutely to attention at the front of the royal barge. | There was clearly no bad blood between them, as in 2012 she appointed him to the Order of Merit following the death of Lucian Freud, the only painter to have held the honour. Hockney went on to create an iPad drawing of the rain-sodden flotilla on the Thames that year to celebrate the Queen’s diamond jubilee. It featured diminutive figures of her and the Duke of Edinburgh standing resolutely to attention at the front of the royal barge. |
| The dean of Westminster, the Very Rev Dr John Hall, who has met Hockney to discuss the window, said: “It will be wonderful to have in the abbey the work of this internationally renowned contemporary British artist who has been honoured by the Queen with membership of the Order of Merit, which is in Her Majesty’s personal gift.” | The dean of Westminster, the Very Rev Dr John Hall, who has met Hockney to discuss the window, said: “It will be wonderful to have in the abbey the work of this internationally renowned contemporary British artist who has been honoured by the Queen with membership of the Order of Merit, which is in Her Majesty’s personal gift.” |
| The Queen celebrated her 90th birthday this year, and in February will have reigned for 65 years. There have been many links with the abbey, where she was married in 1947 and crowned in June 1953. She will be there again on Thursday, when she and the Duke of Edinburgh attend a service marking the 60th anniversary of the Duke of Edinburgh’s award. | The Queen celebrated her 90th birthday this year, and in February will have reigned for 65 years. There have been many links with the abbey, where she was married in 1947 and crowned in June 1953. She will be there again on Thursday, when she and the Duke of Edinburgh attend a service marking the 60th anniversary of the Duke of Edinburgh’s award. |
| The abbey will not disclose the cost of the window, but it will be met by two benefactors. Hockney is still working on the designs, and the window will be made at the Barley Studio in York. | The abbey will not disclose the cost of the window, but it will be met by two benefactors. Hockney is still working on the designs, and the window will be made at the Barley Studio in York. |