Artist David Hockney donates books to CSMA Artist David Hockney donates books to CSMA (May 11, 2001)

By Amy Goodpaster Strebe

The internationally acclaimed artist David Hockney has made an unrestricted gift of 42 art books from his personal archives to the Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA). The donation, valued at more than $1,500, will become a part of the school's permanent library, which is used by CSMA teachers and students.

The donation came about through an art project from CSMA's Arts in Action program at local public and private elementary schools.

In the fifth-grade art class at Trinity School in Menlo Park, students and their Arts in Action teacher Elise Ryerson created art inspired by the photo collages of David Hockney. At elementary schools in Mountain View and Los Altos, students and teachers created work inspired by other artists, including Andy Warhol, Paul Cézanne and Marc Chagall. Out of this project came "Inspirations," a public art exhibition held earlier this year at Mountain View City Hall.

"I decided to send pictures of the students' work to David Hockney, who I knew lived in Los Angeles," said Arts in Action coordinator Linda Covello. "When I received a letter telling me about the donation, I realized that Mr. Hockney must have been impressed with what he saw. We are tremendously honored to have been selected to receive this gift, which will not only assist us in our teaching, but also shows the students what they are capable of doing with their art."

The donated books trace the evolution of Hockney's art, from the 1950s to the present. The donation includes out-of-print books, signed copies, and catalogues from Hockney's past exhibitions.

"Hockney's work is very accessible to students," said Covello. "His use of color, his bright, clear compositions appeal to them. His work conveys a sense of play. It's like he's having a good time when he paints, and I think that is conveyed to kids," she said.

Hockney, who was born in England in 1937, came onto the art scene in the early 1960s during the Pop Art era, after graduating from the Royal College of Art, and is best known for his swimming pool paintings, photographic collages, and dog portraits. He made his first visits to the United States during the 1960s, when he taught at several American universities, including the University of California at Berkeley.

Ryerson said her fifth-grade students were inspired by Hockney's "Joiner Works" in making their own photo collages.

"Hockney often used polaroids as a way of taking different pieces of information and bringing them into one bigger work," she said. "I had students think of a person or a theme, and they used digital cameras and pasted the pictures onto construction paper."

According to Ryerson, who is also a professional photographer, the students enjoyed the project because they found it interesting to create a portrait that didn't look entirely real and wasn't traditional. It was also an effective art lesson on perspective, she said.

"I think the kids had a really good time," she said. "They learned different camera angles, zooming in and out, which was a good introduction into photography."

Fifth-grade student Hayne Brousseau said the art lesson taught her how to be creative.

"It was a lot of fun because everyone's picture came out different," she said.

Brousseau titled her work "Aisling Allison." It is a composite of two girls in her class.

"I took pictures of one of their faces and hair, and pictures of the other's body and shoes, and mixed them to make a portrait," she explained. "Elise really inspired me and gave me lots of ideas for the project."