If summer travels take you to Paris this year, I encourage you to make some time to see David Hockney 25, a special art exhibition at the Fondation Louis Vuitton that runs until August 31st.
The Fondation Louis Vuitton is dedicating five months and 11 galleries to the renowned British painter, graphic artist, and photographer, David Hockney, who is considered one of the most influential artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. The display includes more than 400 of his works from 1955 to now and is the biggest exhibition he's ever done. His pieces include oil and acrylic paintings, ink drawings, pencil and charcoal sketches, as well as digital works created on a cellphone or computer. David wanted the presentation to emphasize not only earlier forms of expression, but also his more recent works and interpretations. Not long ago during a short business trip abroad, I made sure to view David Hockney 25 - it is an exceptional and inspiring collection of art.
Here are some photos.
David’s exhibit fills the entire building in what is his biggest presentation to date. The display includes works borrowed from institutions all over the world, including London, Oslo, Düsseldorf, Milan, Dallas and Melbourne, as well as works from David’s own collection.
The two story Fondation Louis Vuitton structure has 11 galleries of different sizes. It also houses a 350 seat auditorium and a multi-level roof for events and art installations.
The building opened in 2014. It was designed by the well-known architect Frank O. Gehry. The facade is made of 3,600 glass panels and 19,000 concrete panels.
David’s works in this display span several decades. This is called David Hockney, “Adhesiveness,” 1960. David is one of the leading figures of the pop art movement of this time.
This is David Hockney “A Bigger Splash,” 1967 which shows how David captured specific moments in time. It is a famous work included in a series of paintings Hockney created featuring the California lifestyle.
Here is David Hockney, “A Bigger Grand Canyon,” 1998. David uses vibrant colors, varying techniques, and themes inspired by his own personal observations, surroundings, and experiences.
David hockney, “Bigger Trees near Warter,” Winter, 2008. The entire work is a landscape painting and depicts trees near Warter, a small village in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
The oil painting is done on nine canvases each measuring 36-inches by 48-inches.
And this is David Hockney “Bigger Trees Nearer Warter,” Summer 2008.
The exhibit separated sections dedicated to David’s works on various landscapes and the changing of the seasons.
It also featured David’s pieces showing light variations – both night and day.
David also devotes time to making digital creations on his iPad. These flowers are part of a series of 20 made in 2021.
The arrangements represent floral still life, and his observations of the changing seasons in what is included in the bouquets.
Various elements in each work change including the type of flowers, the vase, and the color and shadows in the tablecloth.
In the larger display of this large-scale photographic drawing, “Looking at the Flowers,” 2022, it shows David sitting at both left and right sides, sitting in a chair, looking at the wall of smaller framed works.
This is David Hockney, “27 March 2020, No. 1” 2020.
And here is David Hockney, “After Munch: Less is Known than People Think,” 2023.
This work is David Hockney, “After Blake: Less is Known than People think,” 2024
This is called David Hockney, Giverny by DH, 2023.
If you have the chance, do visit David Hockney 25 at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris. I know you’ll enjoy this exhibit.
It's still berry season and the blueberries at my farm are plentiful and ripe for the picking!
Plump, juicy, and sweet, blueberries are one of nature’s finest treasures. I love to use them for jams, jellies, and pies, but they’re also wonderful with cereal, in pancakes and cobblers, and of course, in handfuls on their own. Low in fat, yet packed with vitamin-C and antioxidants, it’s not surprising they’re one of America’s favorite fruits. I also grow raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries, strawberries, and currants.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
My blueberry bushes are laden with delicious fruits – they’ve never been so full. My blueberries are all from these bushes located between my flower garden and large Equipment Barn, next to a stand of quince trees.
The posts are the same 18th-century Chinese granite uprights I use for the clematis pergola, my apple espaliers, and my raspberry bushes.
Standard blueberry bushes grow about six to 10-feet tall. New shoots grow from the crown under the soil.
At the base, blueberry shrubs have multiple canes growing directly out of the earth in clumps. The canes or branches are smooth and thornless. These bushes have done so well here at the farm. I am always so pleased with how prolific they are every year.
Blueberry bushes have glossy leaves that are green or bluish-green from spring through summer. The leaves are ovate, in an irregular oval or slightly egg shape that is wider at the bottom than the top. Blueberry leaves can also be harvested and dried for teas.
And do you know… blueberries are among the most popular berries for eating? Here in the United States, they are second only to strawberries. There are two types of blueberries, highbush and lowbush. Highbush blueberries are the types you commonly find at grocery stores and farmers’ markets. Lowbush blueberries are smaller, sweeter blueberries often used for making juices, jams, and baked goods.
Blueberries are pale greenish at first, and then reddish-purple and finally dark purple-blue when ripe for picking.
Here, one can see the colors of the berries as they develop – green, then red, then blue.
And blueberries don’t actually reach their full flavor until a few days after they turn blue, so a tip to know which ones are the best – tickle the bunches lightly, and only the truly ripe ones will fall into your hand.
Each of these fruits is about five to 16 millimeters large with a flared crown at the end. They were once called “star fruits” by North American indigenous peoples because of the five-pointed star shaped crown.
Blueberries are covered in a protective powdery epicuticular wax known as the “bloom”. Blueberries are high in fiber, high in vitamin-C, and contain one of the highest amounts of antioxidants among all fruits and vegetables.
Many blueberries also fall to the ground. All those picked are carefully inspected – only the best are saved. The rest are enjoyed by the birds.
Here’s Enma with a full box of berries – picked in just a few minutes. I grow many blueberry varieties, including ‘Bluegold’, ‘Chandler’, ‘Darrow’, ‘Jersey’, and ‘Patriot’.
These boxes were all picked in under an hour. Blueberries produce from early summer through late fall – we will pick lots and lots of berries before the end of the season.
Not far from the blueberries is my raspberry patch. I have several rows of raspberry bushes. Summer-bearing raspberry bushes produce one crop each season that lasts about one month.
One plant can produce several hundred berries in a season. Raspberries are vigorous growers and will produce runners that fill up a bed.
Once raspberries are picked, they stop ripening, so under-ripe berries that are harvested will never mature to the maximum sweetness. Only ripe raspberries will come right off the stem. The black raspberry plant is a high producing early variety whose upright growth makes it easy for picking.
These are red raspberries. These must be picked and handled very carefully as they are very delicate.
I also have blackberry bushes. This is one of the fruits. The blackberry is packed with vitamins C, K, and E, rich in dietary fiber, and low in sugar. Blackberries are juicy and delicious eaten raw.
I always grow strawberries. Strawberries are among the easiest berries to grow. They are cold-hardy and adaptable, and can be planted in both garden beds and containers.
Gooseberries are native to Europe, northwest Africa, and all regions of Asia except for the north. Gooseberries grow best in areas with cold, freezing winters and humid summers.
And of course, currants. I grow red, white, pink, and black currant varieties. Currants are still largely unknown here in the United States. They are well-loved in many other countries, and here in the US, they are slowly gaining popularity, especially because of the high antioxidant content. They are now more prevalent at local farms and home gardens. What berries do you grow?
Here at my farm temperatures today are expected to be in the 90s, with possible thunderstorms in the afternoon. It's been very hot and humid, but work must continue to keep the gardens looking their best.
Despite the uncomfortable summer weather, my vegetable garden is doing great. To keep it thriving, it must also be carefully maintained. My head gardener, Ryan McCallister, visits my large half-acre patch every single day to check on what's growing, harvest what is ready, pull any weeds that emerge, add support stakes or ties where necessary, plant seeds for new crops, and of course... water, water, water.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
I am so pleased with all the wonderful produce that’s coming out of the garden this year. There’s something to harvest every day. This basket is filled with artichokes, and more continue to grow. The globe artichoke, Cynara scolymus, is actually a flower bud, which is eaten when tender. Buds are generally harvested once they reach full size, just before the bracts begin to spread open. I like to harvest them when they are still small.
Do you know what this vegetable is? It’s kohlrabi. Kohlrabi is a cruciferous vegetable related to cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower. It’s also called a German turnip. It has long leafy stems and a round bulb that’s usually purple, pale green, or white and all with white-yellow flesh.
Here is white kohlrabi. Kohlrabi tastes similar to broccoli stems and cabbage, although it’s slightly sweeter. The bulb is widely used in salads and soups, but can also be roasted or sautéed.
And look at this bounty of green peppers and eggplants. It’s good to pick eggplants when they are young and tender. Pick a little early to encourage the plant to grow more, and help extend the growing season. And I love making stuffed peppers – it’s so easy and so delicious.
Ryan is holding one of my beautiful Savoy cabbages. The right time for cabbage harvesting depends on the variety of cabbage planted and when the heads mature. Look for heads that are firm all the way through when squeezed – that’s when they’re ready.
In another bed, my tomatillos. The tomatillo, also known as the Mexican husk tomato, is a nightshade plant that bears small, spherical, and green fruit commonly used in Mexican cuisine for making salsas, sauces, and soups.
And all around the perimeter of the garden are the growing pumpkin vines. We’ll have many pumpkins this season. And, to keep the area neat and tidy, I put down this landscape weed cloth. It works excellently.
As for the asparagus, the last of the stalks have been harvested, but it’s important to allow the fern-like foliage to grow through the remainder of the season. The foliage makes carbohydrates and sugars that get stored in the plant’s roots and crowns to help generate next year’s crop.
At the south end of my garden are my tomato plants. I use bamboo stakes to support the vining plants. they were put up just in time – the plants are growing so fast.
Norman is securing ties around the plants to keep the vines up and the tomatoes off the ground.
I like to use natural jute twine. Every plant is checked and secured. It is a time consuming process, but very crucial to good plant growth and performance.
As crops are picked and beds are cleaned, more seeds are planted. I use lots of seeds from Johnny’s Selected Seeds in central Maine. Johnny’s Selected Seeds offers a wide selection of products and provides practical solutions for both the home gardener and the professional farmer.
I’m a firm believer of succession planting, the practice of following one crop with another to maximize a garden’s yield. It is a very efficient use of gardening space and time. Here, Ryan makes furrows for the next crop using Johnny’s Bed Preparation Rake.
Up next for planting are the soybeans. These Karikachi soybeans produce tall, upright plants that are sturdy and vigorous, producing large, plump soybean, or edamame, pods that are delicious steamed.
He also plants bush beans from Johnny’s Selected Seeds. This variety is ‘Maxibel.’ Bush beans are green beans that grow in a compact, bushy form.
The brown mottled seeds produce slender, seven-inch green pods, which will be ready in 50-days.
My long center trellis bed is also seeded with a variety of pole beans.
These green beans grow vertically and need to be supported in order to thrive.
These are cilantro seeds. Cilantro and coriander are different terms for the same plant. Here in the US, cilantro is the leafy green part and stems, whereas coriander refers to the seeds.
The seeds are planted a couple inches apart in the furrow. Cilantro isn’t for everyone – some abhor it. Those who dislike cilantro tend to have a gene that detects the aldehyde part of cilantro as a soapy smell and taste. Do you like cilantro or hate it?
And in this bed Ryan plants radishes. Have you ever tried radishes with butter and salt? Peppery, crispy radishes with butter and a pinch of flaky sea salt is a popular French snack.
After planting, Ryan uses a soft rake to gently bury the seeds and smooth out the beds. Sprouts should start to emerge in about a week or two. Before finishing for the day, sprinklers are turned on to give all the beds a good drink.
It’s a busy time in my garden, but everything is growing so well. How is your garden doing?
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