On turning eighty, David Hockney sought out rustic tranquillity for the first time: a place to watch the sunset and the changing seasons, and to keep the noise of the world at bay. When Covid-19 and lockdown followed, life at La Grande Cour—the centuries-old Normandy farmhouse where he had set up a studio a year earlier—continued much as before, as he worked on paintings capturing the arrival of spring. In fact, he relished the enforced isolation as an opportunity for even greater devotion to his art.
Spring Cannot Be Cancelled is an uplifting meditation on art’s capacity to divert and inspire. It is based on conversations and correspondence between Hockney and art critic Martin Gayford, his long-time friend and collaborator. Their exchanges are illustrated with Hockney’s pandemic-era drawings and paintings of Normandy, alongside works by Van Gogh, Monet, Bruegel, and others.
We see how Hockney was propelled by his infectious enthusiasm and sense of wonder. A lifelong contrarian, he remained unconcerned with critical opinion or historical judgment. During lockdown, he immersed himself in northern France and the themes that had long fascinated him: light, color, space, perception, water, and trees.
Reviews
Warm, intelligent and quietly inspiring... A memoir of love in the time of Covid: of friendship and a shared passion for art... Spring Cannot be Cancelled takes us inside the mind of a major modern artist.
— The Wall Street Journal
A deeper look at the artist's new Norman phase and his capacity to inspire others. Gayford writes this insightful book in the form of a dialogue...with a close look at Hockney’s process... Along with lots of friendly banter between two people who really love art, Spring Cannot Be Cancelled offers numerous illustrations of Hockney’s works from Normandy and of the art-historical masterpieces that pepper their conversation.
— Artful Jaunts
A bright amble through Hockney's emails to (and context from) his old friend Martin Gayford on such topics as good countries for smokers, and theories of perspective with art by Hockney and others.
— Vanity Fair
Few artists have responded to the pandemic more vibrantly than David Hockney... One of the most exciting artbooks to come down the pike in years... The correspondence [with art critic, friend and co-author Gayford]...is a kind of modern, digital version of Vincent van Gogh's letters to his brother Theo.
— WAG
Amply illustrated, both with new pieces by Hockney and works by artists of previous eras... The overall effect is of a continuous slide lecture delivered in a delightfully informal style. It is also, as the title indicates, an affirmation of life in grim times.
— John Dorfman Art & Antiques
Contributors
Martin Gayford
Author
Martin Gayford is art critic for The Spectator and the author of acclaimed books on Van Gogh, Constable, and Michelangelo. He is the author of My Heart Is This: Tracey Emin on Painting, A Bigger Message: Conversations with David Hockney, Venice: City of Pictures, The World According to David Hockney, among others.
David Hockney
Author
David Hockney (1937–2026) was one of the most influential British artists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. He produced work in almost every medium—painting, drawing, stage design, photography, and printmaking—and stretched the boundaries of all of them. During his lifetime, he published numerous books with Thames & Hudson, including Hockney’s Pictures, The World According to David Hockney, Spring Cannot be Cancelled: David Hockney in Normandy, and David Hockney by David Hockney (first published in 1976 with a 50th anniversary edition forthcoming in 2026). Thames & Hudson also published the catalog for his major retrospective at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in 2025.
