How paintings of nature bring us joy

In March 2020, as the world was acclimatising itself to the pandemic, David Hockney released an image of bright yellow daffodils titled Do remember they can't cancel the spring. In the midst of such fear and uncertainty it offered a much-needed burst of optimism, reminding us all that nature, with its continuing cycles of rebirth and renewal, could still offer hope.

Hockney has long appreciated the natural world, both for its aesthetic inspiration and therapeutic qualities: “We can only replenish ourselves by looking at nature,” he has said. It is a viewpoint many of us have come to share over the past year as we have taken long walks to calm our racing minds. The results can be tangible; a mere 20 minutes in a natural environment has been proven to lower stress levels. Even looking at images of nature can induce some of the same effects, so it is perhaps no surprise that visitors have been flocking to Hockney – Van Gogh: The Joy of Nature at The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston while Londoners are eagerly awaiting Hockney's The Arrival of Spring, which opens this week at The Royal Academy.

“People are really loving the show. It's been quite a bad time here with Covid and then the freeze which brought everything to a halt and people's faces just light up when they walk into the galleries,” says Ann Dumas, curator of the Houston show, who spoke to BBC Culture in early March, just as Texas was beginning to recover from unseasonably freezing temperatures.

The exhibition, a re-working of the hugely popular 2019 exhibition at The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, explores the two artists' love of nature as well as Van Gogh's unmistakable influence on Hockney. The response to nature for both artists was sparked by a change of scene. When Van Gogh moved to the south of France, he made the colour breakthroughs that led to the vividly coloured still lifes and sun-drenched landscapes that lift the spirits of all who view them, while Hockney's return to Yorkshire after many years in LA gave him a renewed appreciation for the local landscapes that he has depicted in his own uniquely vibrant palette.

Hockney has long appreciated the natural world, both for its aesthetic inspiration and therapeutic qualities: “We can only replenish ourselves by looking at nature,” he has said. It is a viewpoint many of us have come to share over the past year as we have taken long walks to calm our racing minds. The results can be tangible; a mere 20 minutes in a natural environment has been proven to lower stress levels. Even looking at images of nature can induce some of the same effects, so it is perhaps no surprise that visitors have been flocking to Hockney – Van Gogh: The Joy of Nature at The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston while Londoners are eagerly awaiting Hockney's The Arrival of Spring, which opens this week at The Royal Academy.

“People are really loving the show. It's been quite a bad time here with Covid and then the freeze which brought everything to a halt and people's faces just light up when they walk into the galleries,” says Ann Dumas, curator of the Houston show, who spoke to BBC Culture in early March, just as Texas was beginning to recover from unseasonably freezing temperatures.

The exhibition, a re-working of the hugely popular 2019 exhibition at The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, explores the two artists' love of nature as well as Van Gogh's unmistakable influence on Hockney. The response to nature for both artists was sparked by a change of scene. When Van Gogh moved to the south of France, he made the colour breakthroughs that led to the vividly coloured still lifes and sun-drenched landscapes that lift the spirits of all who view them, while Hockney's return to Yorkshire after many years in LA gave him a renewed appreciation for the local landscapes that he has depicted in his own uniquely vibrant palette.

The painting, with its lush, verdant greens and branches tipped with leaves that appear to be writhing and squirming with joy is undoubtedly one of the highlights of the show. As is another work, which Hockney filmed in the same location – The Four Seasons, Woldgate Woods (Spring 2011, Summer 2010, Autumn 2010, Winter 2010). Consisting of four panels, each of which are made up of nine subtly moving screens, it shows the same area of woodland as it changes over the seasons. “People are spellbound,” says Dumas, “it really pulls you in.”

The work's soothing vision of winter moving into spring is clearly exactly what Texans were in need of. “People have written to us and said, 'Thank you for bringing us this show,'“ says Dumas. “They see it very much as about hope.”

A dopamine hit

Hope is certainly what Edith Devaney, curator of the Royal Academy's show, needed in 2020 when she was forced to tear apart the institution's exhibition programme not once, but three times, as the country went into repeated lockdowns. Hockney was in Normandy in France at the time, having always intended to capture the coming of spring there, and began sending through completed works to a select group, of which Devaney considers herself lucky to be one. “I have to say being a recipient of one of those images kept us going,” she says. “They're visually delightful and they changed your mood, that's a really interesting thing, the extent to which they are actually mood-enhancing.”

She is in no doubt of the impact that bringing the completed series to a wider public will have. “It's one of those rare occasions when an art exhibition will have resonance with absolutely every human being alive. It will mean something to all of us because of what we've been through globally,” she says. “It's that idea of the cycle of life, you have to cling on to that… it's a reminder that there is a greater force than ourselves.”

Like Dumas, Devaney comments on Hockney's keen observation. In conversation with her in the show catalogue, the artist talks enthusiastically about the variety of greens needed to capture the changing season. His excitement is palpable as he discusses looking out for the first little shoots or waiting to see if his pear or cherry tree will blossom first.