The David Hockney Gallery at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery in Bradford's Manningham reopened on Wednesday with a completely new look, running free to the public until 21 October 2029.

Both the BBC and Great British Life report that the globally renowned painter, who died in June aged 88, was directly involved in approving which new works would appear — making this, according to Great British Life, one of the last projects he was working on.

Curator Jill Iredale told the BBC that the refresh was planned after Bradford's 2025 City of Culture celebrations, and that the artist's passing during the process has added an "additional poignancy" to the display.

What might have been a routine refresh has become something closer to a posthumous statement.

Great British Life quotes Iredale saying Hockney "was approving which pictures would be in this exhibition" and that his team "were very committed to making his wishes happen in really difficult circumstances."

The gallery first opened in 2017 for his 80th birthday and closed last year while Cartwright Hall hosted the Turner Prize, so the reopening was always scheduled — but the surprise for art readers is that the narrative now spans Hockney's whole arc, from 1950s student sketches to iPad drawings from his final decade.

Iredale tells the BBC there is a new emphasis on his Normandy home, sketched and printed with an inkjet printer during the pandemic.

The range of material is unusually wide for a single-artist room.

According to the BBC's report, visitors will see original drawings from the 1950s made while Hockney studied at Bradford School of Art between 16 and 20, new digital iPad drawing works, and loans from the David Hockney Foundation including archival photos of him painting swimming pools and pictures of his dogs.

Iredale told Great British Life that visitors can "really see the change" between the Bradford sketches and the London years.

The reopening lands at a moment when interest in Hockney is rising rather than fading. Both outlets note that King Charles III was among the thousands who visited during Bradford 2025, and Great British Life quotes Iredale saying people are "really keen to view his works" since his death.

Councillor Ian Walker told the BBC that bringing the works together with Hockney's own connection to Cartwright Hall — the only place in Bradford where he could see "real paintings" as a child, per his 2017 statement — gives visitors a special view of where one of Britain's greatest artists began.

Iredale says the display will change again in a few years to stay fresh, keeping the story alive until 2029.