Hockney, The Queen and the Royal Peculiar
David Hockney undertakes a commission to design and install a stained-glass window in Westminster Abbey to commemorate the sixty-fifth year of Queen Elizabeth II's reign.
It has been the site of royal weddings, funerals and nearly every British coronation since 1066, Westminster Abbey is also known as a Royal Peculiar - a church controlled not by a bishop but by the monarch herself. Crowned there in 1953, Queen Elizabeth II is the world's longest-reigning monarch and in 2018 Westminster Abbey commissioned a historic new work 鈥� a towering stained-glass window 鈥� to commemorate 65 years of her reign.
The artist behind it is David Hockney - who famously refused a knighthood and declined an invitation to paint the Queen's portrait because he was too busy painting landscapes in Yorkshire. Adopting an art form over 1,000 years old is yet another surprising move from an artist whose career has continually defied expectation. With unique access, imagine... follows the whole process from design to installation.
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Clips
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Leading and soldering the window in Yorkshire鈥檚 Barley Studio
Duration: 02:50
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David Hockney arrives at Westminster Abbey
Duration: 03:40
Credits
| Role | Contributor |
|---|---|
| Presenter | Alan Yentob |
| Participant | David Hockney |
| Executive Producer | Tanya Hudson |
| Series Editor | Alan Yentob |
| Producer | Louise Lockwood |
| Director | Louise Lockwood |
