David Hockney’s masterpiece, “Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures),” takes center stage in the captivating exhibition “Capturing the Moment” at Tate Modern in London. This exhibition explores the intricate relationship between painting and photography. Hockney drew inspiration from snapshots he took at a pool in St. Tropez and of his former lover, Peter Schlesinger, in Kensington Gardens. By collaging these images together, Hockney creates a profound moment, capturing the play of sunlight on water and the complexities of desire, loss, and regret in a single brushstroke. It is remarkable that Hockney dedicated over 200 hours to depict what appears to be a fleeting moment—a virtuoso imitation of a photograph that never existed.
In 2018, Taiwanese entrepreneur Pierre Chen shattered records by purchasing Hockney’s painting for $90 million, the highest price ever paid for a work by a living artist. The painting now returns to the UK as part of Chen’s impressive Yageo Foundation collection, making it the sole lender to this exhibition (all other works are from Tate’s collection). Chen’s collection includes a range of remarkable pieces, from Picasso’s powerful yet delicate “Buste de Femme” (1938), previously unseen in Britain, to Peter Doig’s eerie and cinematic “Canoe Lake” (1997-98), one of his earliest works based on a scene from the horror film “Friday the 13th.”
Tate Modern sets the theme of the exhibition with a Picasso quote in the opening gallery, emphasizing that photography has liberated painting from literature, anecdotes, and even subjects. This theme constitutes a foundational narrative in modern art, showcasing how painting broke free from the constraints of documentation. The Yageo loans alone provide a surprise and delight factor that makes visiting this exhibition worth it. Picasso’s “Buste de Femme” (1938) and Francis Bacon’s “Study for a Pope VI” (1961) are historic loans that demonstrate how 20th-century figurative painting thrived by becoming increasingly sensational and exaggerated in response to harrowing times.
Chen began his electronics business as a teenager in 1977 and simultaneously started collecting art, utilizing the fortune he made from mechanization (his company supplies mobile phone and computer components) to amass a remarkable collection of handcrafted works. Chen’s collection showcases his willingness to take risks, evident in his acquisition of Picasso’s “The Sailor” (1943), a self-portrait that survived a puncture by a metal rod before Chen bought it. Another standout piece is Bacon’s “Study for a Pope VI,” the final painting in a significant series inspired by Velázquez. In this particular depiction, the pope slumps with a resigned expression, his surplice dissolving into white paint on raw canvas—an emblem of pathos and defeat.
It is worth noting that “The Sailor” has not been exhibited in the UK since a Picasso show at Tate in 1945-46, and the “Pope” has not been seen since the museum’s 1962 Bacon retrospective. These loans present a fabulous opportunity to experience how 20th-century figurative painting evolved and became more sensational in response to tumultuous times, as Ezra Pound beautifully described with the phrase “the age demanded an image of its accelerated grimace.”
The exhibition also features Bacon’s “Three Studies for Portrait of Lucian Freud,” which has not been seen in decades. This triptych portrays Freud with a shattered head, reconstructed to convey a sense of turmoil through deep red paint. Alongside these extraordinary loans, the exhibition includes early works by Freud held in Tate’s collection. One standout piece is “Boy Smoking” (1950), which depicts a young criminal with a troubled expression—a testament to Freud’s lifelong commitment to intensifying reality and surpassing the objectivity of photography with his own unique blend of monstrosity and indifference.
During the 1960s, while Freud remained committed to traditional painting techniques, his contemporaries began incorporating photographs directly into their works. Artists like Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol screen-printed photographs and movie stills, appropriating banal or glamorous images. German photographers, influenced by painting, continued this exploration of ambivalence between the camera’s neutrality and austere formalist composition. Artists like Andreas Gursky, Thomas Struth, and Candida Höfer present their captivating works in this exhibition.
The exhibition also features recent acquisitions by Tate, showcasing the incredible diversity in the quality of contemporary work. While some pieces, such as Laura Owens’ “Untitled” (2012) and Christina Quarles’ “Casually Cruel” (2018), feel bloodless and pointless with their reliance on digital rendering, there are saviors among them. Two major pieces, acquired through Tate’s Africa Acquisition Fund, stand out—the dreamy and disturbing “The Promised Land” by Michael Armitage, portraying bodies transforming amidst tear gas, and Njideka Akunyili Crosby’s captivating domestic scenes, “Predecessors,” which collage vibrant fragments of Nigerian culture.
Overall, the exhibition at Tate Modern titled “Capturing the Moment” presents a unique opportunity to explore the complex relationship between painting and photography. While the exhibition could have been more focused, several elements, including the impressive Yageo collection and the evolution of 21st-century painters’ engagement with photography, offer moments of brilliance. Visitors have until January 28, 2024, to experience this thought-provoking and visually stunning exhibition.
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