David Hockney’s tribute to Queen Elizabeth II

There are precious few stained-glass windows in Oxford produced within the last century, so it is refreshing to read of the latest installation within Westminster Abbey: a vibrantly coloured window designed by David Hockney using an iPad and filling a space more than six meters tall and about two metres wide.  I do wonder what thought Hockney put into the variation of light intensity and colour temperature that his work would undergo post-installation?  Did he go to the trouble of simulating how the piece might look at different times of the year, or different timed of the day on his iPad?

I do rather enjoy the juxtaposition between this work and mine… here Hockney used an iPad to design a stained glass window installation.  My work sees me photographing stained glass window installation then, having edited them, I view them on a Windows tablet (more apt, I feel) in situ to ensure they are a faithful reproduction.

The window celebrates Queen Elizabeth II’s 65-year reign, and is set in Yorkshire, featuring hawthorn blossom.  It was created using traditional techniques by Barley Studio, a stained glass studio based in York.

Alan Williams (2018) David Hockney and The Queen’s Window

David Harrison (2018) The Queen’s Window at Barley Studio