Teachers’ notes

The Superpower of Looking:
David Hockney paints his parents

How to use this resource

In class, open a full-screen version of the image in a new window.

Use the prompts in these notes to guide your students through the lesson.

Contextual background for teachers

My Parents (1977)

David Hockney (b.1937)

Oil on canvas

H 182.9 x W 182.9 cm

Tate, London

https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/my-parents-199286

This large, almost square canvas by David Hockney is a double portrait of Laura and Kenneth Hockney, the artist's parents. It was painted a year before his father's death. Laura Hockney looks lovingly at her son, who paints them, while his father seems to be preoccupied with the book he is reading on his lap. What is it that makes Kenneth appear restless in his chair?

The cabinet in the middle of the painting seems to be carefully positioned with some interesting objects on display, including a mirror that reflects a reproduction of a Renaissance painting by Piero della Francesca (c.1415–1492) that later hung in the artist's studio.
This is a good opportunity to discuss family dynamics and relationships.

How does the precise and graphic style of the work and its colour palette relate to the mood of the scene?

Look, describe and discuss

You can start by showing the whole image, and then use the zoom feature to explore details of the painting. Or you might like to start by using the zoom feature to show a detail from the image, and then zoom out to see more.

Encourage your students to look carefully – this is their superpower! It’s best to not give too much background information about the artwork at this stage, so students can develop their own ideas and opinions.

Nudge questions

Now when looking at the painting, ask more specific ('nudge') questions:

What are your first impressions of Hockney’s parents? Can you think of three adjectives to describe them to a talking partner?

Do you think this painting looks realistic?

Where do you think Hockney’s parents are sitting for this portrait?

What might you see, smell or hear if you were transported into the painting?

Questions from The Superpower of Looking Kit
Now we can start to explore the 'elements' of the painting. Use The Superpower of Looking Kit to ask questions about the artwork. For this artwork, you will focus on figures (expression and gesture), colour and space.

Ask your students to evidence their points:

Where exactly are they looking when they make a statement?

Can everybody see what they see?

Slow down, take time to really look closely

You can introduce knowledge from the contextual background for teachers at this point.

Everyone learning

You can find out more about The Superpower of Looking SEND/ASD/ALN approach on the Superpower homepage.

Now it's time to explore the artwork in different ways. This list of sensory activities encourages students to apply their learning and can suit a variety of learning needs.

Make

Create a portrait of your parents or care-givers. You might want to use a photograph to help you.

Draw your own version of this painting, using two life models. Let the models choose how they want to sit and sketch them. David Hockney was interested in precise straight lines to create a sense of calm in his portrait. To help you achieve that in your portrait, fold a square of paper in half along both axis (to create a grid of four), and use these as guides to add straight lines to your picture.

Listen

Listen to excerpts from the UK's number one records in 1977! Which song do you think Hockney's parents might have liked the most? (Bear in mind that they were both in their seventies when this work was painted!)

Listen to David Hockney's 1972 appearance on BBC Radio Four's Desert Island Discs to hear what music he liked!

Do you think this painting is noisy or quiet? Use objects from the classroom to recreate some of the sounds you might hear if you were transported into the painting.

Touch

Get your students to touch the textures from the painting: leather, glass, flowers, cotton, paper, or objects from the painting: a mirror, chairs, a vase, art books, a paper/magazine.

Encourage students to look closely at the details in this portrait, noticing their shape, colour and texture. One student closes their eyes and ‘feels’ (points to) something in the portrait; the other students have to describe it without naming it.

Move

With a partner, recreate this scene and copy the poses. How does it feel to sit like this? How long do you think you could hold this pose?

Watch this video to learn about how it feels sitting for a portrait!

Communicate

In 2014, this painting was voted the nation's favourite painting by members of the public. Talk with your talking partner about why you think it was so popular. Do you think it is still as popular now?

Learn the Makaton sign or British Sign Language for ‘family’.

Final stage: review

Ask your students to:

share their sketchbooks in groups and discuss the 'elements' they have identified

choose an element/aspect they find most interesting about the artwork and record it in their sketchbooks

choose their own name/s for the title of the artwork

think of a question they would like to ask the artist

Congratulations!

You have now completed The Superpower of Looking lesson resource.

There are more resources in this theme to try – have a look in the ‘next lessons’ section below.

Next lessons

Now try these other lesson resources as part of the portraits theme:

Queen Elizabeth I and the Spanish Armada

Vincent van Gogh, a selfie and a bandaged ear

Lubaina Himid’s portrait of a tailor

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Shore Family

2023-09-04T11:30:00Z

Jennie Thornber