1991
The art of David Hockney is always engaging in its pleasant ambiguities: his prints, drawings and paintings are warm but somehow aloof; filled with light yet often dark and brooding in subject; simple, frank and mundane, but also ethereal and complex. The artist’s stature in the contemporary art world is such that, in a 2011 survey of one thousand British painters and sculptors, he was named the most influential British artist of all time.
Hockney grew up in Bradford, in the northern English county of Yorkshire, studying at the Bradford School of Art from 1953 to ’57, and at the Royal College of Art in London from 1959 to 1962. Though he was educated in art at a time when abstraction dominated the field, Hockney stuck resolutely to figurative painting and drawing.
Hockney's early paintings suggest a search for a style, veering from Expressionism to a grotesquerie suggestive of James Ensor. But Hockney found himself almost the moment he arrived in Los Angeles, in 1963. The move from the gray and rainy Britain to a world of bright sunshine and sparkling water brought Hockney a sense of freedom and an artistic epiphany. He would spend most of the next five years in L.A., painting luminous pictures, such as A Bigger Splash (1967), of things that made him happy: swimming pools, manicured lawns, palm trees, stucco buildings and luxuries like shower stalls. Hockney also painted people, almost always his friends. His California portraits such as Beverly Hills Housewife (1966) are considered to be his finest work. They are at once grandly scaled, intimate and poetic.
In the 1970s, Hockney moved back to Britain and spent much of his time on photography and printmaking. He returned to painting in the 1980s, and to subjects like still lifes, seascapes and portraits. Hockney has always been fascinated by the use of technology in art — he’s credited with inventing the technique of joining Polaroid photos in a collage to form a panoramic picture — and has been using the Brush app to paint on an iPad. Because he was prolific and worked in a wide range of mediums, Hockney’s art is available at many price points. His consistently striking and provocative work should have a place in any comprehensive collection of contemporary art.
Find original David Hockney art on 1stDibs.
Hockney's Alphabet
By David Hockney
Located in London, GB
This rare copy has been signed by Hockney and Spender as well as an extraordinary twenty of the twenty-seven contributing writers, namely Doris Lessing, William Boyd, Margaret Drabbl...
Book
Special First Edition Hockney's Alphabet
By David Hockney
Located in London, GB
A rare, first edition, first impression, signed limited edition book containing twenty-six colour offset lithographs by David Hockney on individual pages, with title-page, text and j...
Digital
$14,500
H 12.63 in W 9.63 in D 1.5 in
Hockney's Alphabet, portfolio of 26 lithographs signed by Hockney and 23 writers
By David Hockney
Located in New York, NY
David Hockney Hockney's Alphabet, 1991 26 color lithographs in Fine Art Cartridge paper bound in quarter vellum with handmade Fabriano Roma paper sides, housed in matching box; signed by David Hockney and most contributors in ink and numbered 178 in black ink on the justification page Numbered 178/250 Hand signed by 24 of the contributors, including David Hockney and Steven Spender 12 5/8 x 9 5/8 inches Bound in book and held in slipcase This portfolio features 26 color lithographs in Fine Art Cartridge paper with full margins, bound as issued, in quarter vellum with handmade Fabriano Roma paper sides, in original grey slipcase. It is signed by David Hockney (the artist) and most contributors in ink and numbered 178 in black ink on the justification page, from the edition of 250, with full text and title page, published by Faber & Faber, London, text edits by Stephen Spender, who also signed. It is illustrated by David Hockney, hand signed by David Hockney and Stephen Spender and also signed by the following contributors: Douglas Adams, Martin Amis, Julian Barnes, William Boyd, Margaret Drabble, Patrick Leigh Fermor, William Golding, Seamus Heaney...
Lithograph
$5,500 / item
H 27.5 in W 19.6 in D 4 in
David Hockney A Bigger Book Limited Edition with Marc Newson Stand
By David Hockney
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Hardcover, 50 x 70 cm (19.6 x 27.5 in.), 498 pages, 13 fold-outs, with an adjustable bookstand designed by Marc Newson, plus an illustrated 680-page chronology book A Bigger Book, TASCHEN’s SUMO...
Paper
David Hockney Portraits by Sarah Howgate & Barbara Stern Shapiro (Book)
Located in North Yorkshire, GB
David Hockney is one of the most significant artists exploring and pushing the boundaries of figurative art today. He has been engaged with portraiture since his teenage years, when he painted Portrait of My Father (1955), and portraits of family, lovers, friends and well-known subjects represent an intimate visual diary of the artist's life. This authoritative new study examines Hockney's portraits in all media - painting, drawing, photocollage and prints - and is produced in close collaboration with the artist. Together, the authors reveal how Hockney's creative development and concerns about representation can be traced through his portrait work: from his iconic double portraits of the late 1960s and early 1970s to his cubist-influenced investigations of the 1980s and from his recent camera lucida...
Paper
David Hockney Exhibition Poster
Located in Philadelphia, PA
David Hockney exhibition poster from 1981 paintings and drawings for the Metropolitan operas parade a French Triple Bill. Poster was ...
Paper
$895
H 10.75 in W 9.25 in D 1.25 in
David Hockney Hand Signed & Stamped First Edition Book That's The Way I See It
By David Hockney
Located in Studio City, CA
A David Hockney rare hand-signed first edition/ first printing (with full number line "10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1") hard cover fine art book "That's The Way I See It" published by Chronicl...
Paper
$1,765
H 33.86 in W 20.08 in
1986 original poster of David Hockney, Images and thoughts for Vogue magazine
By David Hockney
Located in PARIS, FR
Very nice original poster of David Hockney, Images and thoughts for Vogue magazine at the Claude Bernard gallery. David Hockney was born in 1937 in Brad...
Paper, Lithograph
$4,500
H 39 in W 24.5 in
Andre Emmerich Gallery print: New Work With A Camera (Autographed)
By David Hockney
Located in New York, NY
New Work With A Camera, 1983 Offset Lithograph Poster Autographed by David Hockney lower right front 39 × 24 1/2 inches Unframed This offset lithograph poster was created on the oc...
Offset
David Hockney at Castelli Graphics
By David Hockney
Located in New York, NY
David Hockney at Castelli Graphics, 1981 Offset Lithograph poster 20 × 16 inches Unsigned Unframed 1981 poster published on the occasion of the release of ...
Offset
