David Hockney
Born in Bradford, England in 1937, David Hockney became extremely interested in the arts at a very young age. He especially admired Picasso, Matisse & Fragonard, to which he credits to this day as inspiration in his present artworks. Between 1953 & 1957, Hockney attended Bradford college of arts and continued his studies in 1959 at the Royal College of Arts in London. It was then where Hockney truly began to diversify himself in mediums and subjects, experimenting with both colour and forms thus creating his distinctive style of vivid colours, beautiful scenery and clear shapes (fig.1)
Unlike many artist who’ve had to hustle for the success, or who’ve become successful after their deaths, Hockney rode to fame was quite easy. Immediately, his paintings were very well received and many were even purchased for personal and/or private collections. Some of his early famed work “incorporated his literary leanings and he used fragments of poems and quotations from Walt Whitman” (bibliography).
From beginning to end, his paintings were very important to Hockney on an artistic and personal level. Many of his paintings would surround the topic of homosexuality, even before it was legal. (fig.2)
Another huge inspiration for Hockney was Hollywood. From a young age, due to watching movies frequently with his father, Hockey discovered an admiration and love for the glitz and glamour. From the weather to the beautiful beautiful people, Hockney fell head over heels. After getting a change to visit the place of his trams in 1963, he decided to move there only 3 years later. (fig.3)
Paintings were very important to David Hockney but so was photography. After creating a collage of polaroids in order to sketch out a scenery for his paintings, Hockney soon realized that the placement of the single images to create a new one when places together was an artwork itself (fig.4). Hockney became so interested in his new found medium that he gave up painting altogether that is until the late 1980’s.
Hockney to this day still continues to makes art both focusing on painting and photography. He has begun to implement new technology into his art as a way to make it fresh and “new”. His most expensive painting Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) (fig.5) sold for 90 million dollars and he has been named one of Britain most important and influential artists of the 20th century.
Work Cited:
“David Hockney.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 18 June 2019, www.biography.com/artist/david-hockney.
Phillips. “David Hockney: Paper Pools.” Artsy, 4 Jan. 2017, www.artsy.net/article/phillips-david-hockney-paper-pools.
Tate. “David Hockney – Exhibition at Tate Britain.” Tate, www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/david-hockney.
Tate. “Frank Stella Born 1936.” Tate, 1 Jan. 1962, www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/frank-stella-1994.
Tate. “Who Is Frank Stella? – Who Are They?” Tate Kids, www.tate.org.uk/kids/explore/who-is/who-frank-stella.
Zara, Janelle. “Inside the Private World of David Hockney.” Architectural Digest, Architectural Digest, 13 Sept. 2018, www.architecturaldigest.com/story/david-hockney-studio-visit.
Images:
Fig 1. “David Hockney: Gregory in the Pool E (Paper Pool 4) (1978).” Artsy, www.artsy.net/artwork/david-hockney-gregory-in-the-pool-e-paper-pool-4.
Fig 2. “David Hockney: The Beginning (1966): Available for Sale.” Artsy, www.artsy.net/artwork/david-hockney-the-beginning.
Fig 3. Loft, Halina. “The Painting That Started It All: Discover David Hockney’s First Swimming Pool.” Sothebys.com, Sotheby’s, 1 Nov. 2019, www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-painting-that-started-it-all-discover-david-hockneys-first-swimming-pool.
Fig 4. “David Hockney’s Beautifully Complicated Relationship with Photography.” The Week – All You Need to Know about Everything That Matters, 10 July 2017, theweek.com/captured/708641/david-hockneys-beautifully-complicated-relationship-photography.
Fig 5. Tate. “Frank Stella Born 1936.” Tate, 1 Jan. 1962, www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/frank-stella-1994.