Garrowby Hill - The stunning Yorkshire spot made world famous by David Hockney

This atmospheric picture captures snow-covered fields in the depths of winter at the top of Garrowby Hill – a vista known the world over at a different time of year thanks to legendary artist David Hockney.
Snow covered fields around a lone tree under a heavy sky at the top of Garrowby Hill on the Yorkshire Wolds . Picture: Gary LongbottomSnow covered fields around a lone tree under a heavy sky at the top of Garrowby Hill on the Yorkshire Wolds . Picture: Gary Longbottom
Snow covered fields around a lone tree under a heavy sky at the top of Garrowby Hill on the Yorkshire Wolds . Picture: Gary Longbottom
By Chris Burn
Published 11th Jan 2021, 16:45 GMT

Hockney, one of Yorkshire’s most famous sons and among the most influential artists of the 20th century, famously created a stunning landscape painting called Garrowby Hill in 1998, which uses bright and bold colours to showcase the patchwork of fields below from the top of the hill in the Yorkshire Wolds in warmed weather. Garrowby Hill is the summit of Bishop Wilton Wold which is the highest point of the Yorkshire Wolds.

The original artwork is now on display at the Museum of Fine Arts, in Boston, America, while it was followed by a companion piece, Going Up Garrowby Hill, in 2000. The latter painting was included in a retrospective exhibition of Hockney’s work in Tate Britain in 2017.

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According to the davidhockney.org fansite, “it is believed by many who have interviewed Hockney since Garrowby Hill appeared in 1998 that he actually produced the work predominantly though memory, with perhaps a little artistic imagination added in on top”.

It adds: “Those who have since made the artistic pilgrimage themselves will perhaps be surprised by the accuracy that someone can paint from memory, even though they may have been in the same spot many times previously. Garrowby Hill was chosen by Hockney as the ideal location for a landscape painting of the stunning Yorkshire countryside in the north of England. Garrowby Hill is just one of a number of Yorkshire landscape paintings from the 1990s as the artist returned to the UK for an extended period. The landscape painting has become a highly respected work from his career and has recently become one of the most reproduced prints from all of his career up to this date.”

Whatever the time of year, Hockney has ensured Garrowby Hill is known across the world.

Technical information: Nikon D850 camera with a 80-200mm lens, exposure of 1/200th second at f11, ISO 640.

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Related topics:David HockneyYorkshireYorkshire WoldsBoston

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