David Hockney’s 90-metre frieze, A Year in Normandy, will be exhibited at the Serpentine gallery in London from 12 March to 23 August 2026. The free exhibition features iPad works that the British artist created during the Covid-19 pandemic, which he said brought comfort to many people.
The frieze comprises 220 images of the changing seasons in Normandy, where Hockney moved in late 2019. Inspired by the Bayeux tapestry, the work is designed to be viewed as a continuous narrative. Hockney said, “The viewer will walk past it like the Bayeux tapestry, and I hope they will experience in one picture the year in Normandy.”
Hockney, 88, began producing images of winter trees on his iPad in spring 2020. He publicly released a drawing of daffodils titled Do Remember They Can’t Cancel the Spring, which became a symbol of resilience. “Many people said my drawings were a great respite from what was going on,” he said.
The exhibition will also include Hockney’s Moon Room, reflecting his interest in light and time, and digital paintings from his Sunrise series. It closes just weeks before the Bayeux tapestry goes on show at the British Museum in London for the first time in nearly 1,000 years.
Serpentine directors Bettina Korek and Hans Ulrich Obrist said they were thrilled that Hockney had agreed to the exhibition, which “promises to be a landmark cultural moment”. The show follows the largest ever Hockney exhibition in Paris, which closes on Monday.
