Hockney grew up in Bradford, Yorkshire, which he found dull. He studied at the Bradford School of Art and then the Royal College of Art in London, where he arrived in 1959 with bleached hair and a gold lame jacket. He was twenty-two and already determined to be noticed. His diploma show paintings, including We Two Boys Together Clinging (titled after a Walt Whitman poem), dealt openly with homosexuality at a time when it was still illegal in Britain. He received the gold medal.
Key facts
Biography
He moved to Los Angeles in 1964 and the work changed. The light changed it. Bradford is grey and wet; Los Angeles is flat, bright, and full of swimming pools. The pool paintings, A Bigger Splash above all, capture something specific about California: the perfection of the surface, the stillness of the architecture, the sense that nobody is home. They are precise and slightly eerie.
He has worked in almost every medium. Oil, acrylic, watercolour, photography (the Polaroid joiners and photo collages), printmaking, stage design (he designed productions for Glyndebourne, the Met Opera, and La Scala), fax art, iPad drawings, and most recently multi-screen video landscapes filmed from a moving car in the Yorkshire Wolds. He went back to Bradford's landscape in his seventies and painted it obsessively: the same road, the same trees, through every season.
He is one of the few living artists whose work most people would recognise on sight. Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) sold for 90 million dollars in 2018. He said the price was 'silly'. He lives in Normandy now and paints his garden.
Timeline
- 1937Born on 9 July in Bradford, Yorkshire, the fourth of five children in a working-class family.
- 1959At 22, enrolled at the Royal College of Art in London, where he quickly became a central figure in British Pop Art.
- 1964At 27, moved to Los Angeles, drawn to the Californian sun and swimming pool culture that would define his most celebrated works.
- 1967At 30, painted A Bigger Splash in Los Angeles, capturing the stillness of a diving board moment against a flat turquoise pool.
- 1975At 38, designed the sets and costumes for Glyndebourne's production of The Rake's Progress, beginning a long career in opera design.
- 2001At 64, returned to his native Yorkshire and began painting large-scale landscapes of the East Riding countryside through the changing seasons.
- 2010At 73, began creating ambitious artworks on the iPad in Bridlington, pioneering digital art as a serious medium.
- 2018At 81, his 1972 painting Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) sold for $90 million in New York, a then-record for a living artist.
Notable Works
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Related Artists
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Frequently Asked Questions
David hockney art style name?
The provided biography and scholarly passages do not name a specific art style for David Hockney. However, the image of the swimming pool is conventionally associated with his art.Did david hockney go to art school?
David Hockney earned a national diploma of design at Bradford School of Art at age seventeen. He then began studies at the Royal College of Art, London, in 1959.How did david hockney become famous?
David Hockney is one of the leading artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, constantly experimenting with different subjects and materials. Among his most famous works is his book filled with paintings of his dogs.Is david hockney still alive?
Yes, David Hockney is still alive (born 1937).Was david hockney married?
The provided biography and scholarly passages do not contain information about whether David Hockney was married.What is david hockney famous for in the art world?
David Hockney is famous for his multidisciplinary talent and constant experimentation with different subjects and materials. He is particularly known for his swimming pool paintings and his book of paintings of his dogs.When did david hockney start digital art?
The biography states that up to February 1982, David Hockney scorned the camera as nothing more than a recording device. He began using Polaroid, Nikon, and Pentax cameras, with his cameras getting smaller over time.When did david hockney start painting?
The provided biography and scholarly passages do not contain information about when David Hockney started painting.Where can i see david hockney paintings in the uk?
David Hockney's works can be seen at Prints in the National Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Art, Tate, and 2 other museums worldwide.Who was david hockney inspired by?
The provided biography and scholarly passages mention Martin Friedman, John Cox, John Dexter, and Stephen Spender in relation to David Hockney's work on theatre designs. However, it does not explicitly state that they inspired him.Why did david hockney create joiners?
According to David Hockney, photographs did not hold his attention, as he believed that one would never look at a photo for more than thirty seconds. However, he began taking photographs in 1963 and used them as preliminary studies for his pieces.Why did david hockney paint swimming pools?
David Hockney has been painting swimming pools since he moved from England to Los Angeles in 1964. The swimming pool image is conventionally associated with his art.
Sources
Editorial draws on the following primary and tertiary references for David Hockney.
- [1] museum Städel Museum Used for: museum holdings.
- [2] museum National Galleries Scotland Used for: museum holdings.
- [3] museum Museum of Fine Arts Boston Used for: museum holdings.
- [4] museum Carnegie Museum of Art Used for: museum holdings.
- [5] museum Walker Art Gallery Used for: museum holdings.
- [6] museum Tate Britain Used for: museum holdings.
- [7] book Susie Hodge, Artists and Their Pets Used for: biography.
- [8] book Beard, Lee, 1973- author, Butler, Adam, author; Van Cleave, Claire, author; Fortenberry, Diane, author; Stirling, Susan, author, Beard, Lee, 1973- author, Butler, Adam, author; Van Cleave, Claire, author; Fortenberry, Diane, author; Stirling, Susan, author - The Art Book_ New Edition, Mini Format Used for: biography.
- [9] book Landauer, Susan, The not-so-still life : a century of California painting and sculpture Used for: biography.
Editorial overseen by Solis Prints. Sources verified 2026-05-31. Click a source for details, or hover over [N] in the page above to preview.
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