David Hockney facts for kids

Quick facts for kids David Hockney OM CH RA
Hockney in 2017
Born	(1937-07-09)9 July 1937 Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Died	11 June 2026(2026-06-11) (aged 88) London, England
Education	Bradford School of Art (1953–1958) Royal College of Art (1959–1962)
Known for	Painting drawing printmaking photography iPad drawing set design
Notable work	A Bigger Splash Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) Peter Getting Out of Nick's Pool American Collectors (Fred and Marcia Weisman) The Blue Guitar Bigger Trees Near Warter A Bigger Grand Canyon Garrowby Hill A Bigger Interior with Blue Terrace and Garden 2017
Movement	Pop art
Awards	John Moores Painting Prize (1967) Praemium Imperiale (1989) Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (1997) Royal Academician Order of Merit (2012) Honorary doctorate, Otis College of Art and Design (1985)

David Hockney (born 9 July 1937 – died 11 June 2026) was a famous English artist. He was a painter, stage designer, and photographer. Hockney was a key part of the Pop art movement in the 1960s. Many people see him as one of the most important British artists of the last 100 years.

In 2018, one of his paintings, Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), sold for a huge amount of money. It became the most expensive artwork by a living artist ever sold at an auction at that time.

Early Life and Art School

David Hockney was born in Bradford, England, on 9 July 1937. He was the fourth of five children. His father, Kenneth Hockney, was an accountant. His mother, Laura, was a very religious and strict vegetarian.

David went to Wellington Primary School and Bradford Grammar School. He then studied art at Bradford College of Art. Later, he attended the Royal College of Art (RCA) in London. There, he met other artists like R. B. Kitaj.

At the RCA, Hockney's work was shown in an exhibition called New Contemporaries. This show helped introduce Pop art in Britain. Hockney was linked to this art style. His early paintings also showed strong feelings, similar to some works by Francis Bacon.

In 1962, the RCA wanted him to do a specific drawing to graduate. David disagreed, saying his art should speak for itself. He painted Life Painting for a Diploma as a protest. The college saw his great talent. They changed their rules and gave him his diploma. After art school, he taught art for a short time at different universities. These included the University of Iowa and the University of California, Los Angeles.

Moving to New Places and Finding Inspiration

In 1964, Hockney moved to Los Angeles, California. The bright sunshine and swimming pools there inspired him. He started painting colourful swimming pool scenes using new acrylic paints. He lived in Los Angeles, London, and Paris at different times.

He later bought a house in the Hollywood Hills and added a studio. He also owned a beach house in Malibu. In the 1990s, Hockney often visited his mother in Yorkshire, England. A friend encouraged him to paint the beautiful landscapes there. In 1998, he finished his painting of the famous Garrowby Hill.

By 2003, Hockney was spending more time in Yorkshire. He painted the countryside en plein air, which means painting outdoors. He used both oils and watercolours. He lived and worked in Bridlington, a seaside town. He created large paintings made from many smaller canvases joined together. This helped him see his big artworks. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, he stayed and painted in Normandy, France.

Hockney's Art: Exploring Many Ways to Create

Hockney loved to try new things in his art. He worked with painting, drawing, printmaking, and photography. He even used a fax machine, computer programs, and iPad drawing apps! His art showed many different subjects. These included still lifes, landscapes, and portraits of his friends and dogs. He also designed sets for famous theatres like the Royal Court Theatre and the Metropolitan Opera.

Painting People: Portraits

David Hockney's "Prince Charles", Hamilton Princess & Beach Club, Hamilton, Bermuda

We Two Boys Together Clinging (1961)

Throughout his career, Hockney often painted portraits. From 1968, he created realistic portraits of friends and family. These paintings showed their faces and personalities very well. He often painted the same people many times. These included his family, friends like Celia Birtwell and Ossie Clark, and his business partner Gregory Evans. Hockney also painted over 300 self-portraits of himself.

Between 1999 and 2001, Hockney used an old tool called a camera lucida. This device helped him draw over 200 portraits of friends and family. In 2016, the Royal Academy of Arts showed a series of his portraits called 82 Portraits and 1 Still-life. Each painting took many hours to complete.

Making Prints: Printmaking

Hockney started making prints early in his career. He made a lithograph self-portrait in 1954. He also created etchings while at the RCA. In 1965, he made a series of lithographs about Los Angeles called The Hollywood Collection.

He worked with famous printers like Aldo Crommelynck. Together, they created The Blue Guitar, a series of 20 etchings. These prints were inspired by a poem by Wallace Stevens and the art of Pablo Picasso. In 1978, he experimented with a new technique using liquid paper. This allowed him to create unique artworks that were a mix of printmaking and painting.

Pictures Made of Many Photos: Photocollages

In the early 1980s, Hockney started making photo collages. He called them "joiners." He used Polaroid photos and later 35 mm prints. He took many pictures of one subject from different angles and at slightly different times. Then, he glued them together to make one big image.

This style made his art look a bit like Cubism, an art movement that shows objects from many viewpoints. Hockney wanted to explore how human eyes see the world. Some of his "joiners" were landscapes, like Pearblossom Highway #2. Others were portraits, such as My Mother, Bolton Abbey, 1982. He discovered this idea by accident when he was gluing photos of a living room together. He realized it told a story, like moving through the room.

New Ways to Create: Other Media and Technology

Woollen carpet, Museu Pavilhão Julião Sarmento, Lisbon, 1991

Hockney was always keen to use new technology. In 1985, he used a computer called the Quantel Paintbox to draw on a screen. Later, he used Photoshop and a Wacom pad to create digital art.

From 2009 onwards, Hockney painted hundreds of artworks using iPhone and iPad apps. He often sent these digital drawings to his friends. He even used an iPad to design a beautiful stained glass window for Westminster Abbey. This window, unveiled in 2018, celebrated the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. It shows a hawthorn blossom scene from his home county of Yorkshire.

Hockney's Bigger Christmas Trees light display, Battersea Power Station, 2023

Between 2010 and 2014, Hockney made multi-camera movies. He used many cameras to film one scene. He filmed the Yorkshire landscape, dancers, and his own art shows. He also combined hundreds of photos to make "photographic drawings" of his friends. In 2017, he used special software to combine thousands of photos. These became huge photomurals for exhibitions.

Painting Outdoors: Plein Air Landscapes

In 2007, Hockney's largest painting, Bigger Trees Near Warter, was shown at the Royal Academy. It was 15 by 40 feet (4.6 by 12.2 meters) and showed a group of trees in Yorkshire. He painted it on 50 separate canvases, mostly outdoors. In 2008, he gave this painting to the Tate in London. He wanted to give them something truly great that showed England. A documentary called David Hockney: A Bigger Picture followed him as he worked on this painting.

Designing for the Stage: Theatre Works

Hockney also designed sets and costumes for plays and operas. His first stage designs were for Ubu Roi in London in 1966. He designed for famous operas like Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress and The Magic Flute at Glyndebourne Festival Opera.

In 1980, he designed for a show at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He also worked on Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde and Puccini's Turandot. He built detailed models in his studio to plan his designs. He even used computers to program lighting for his stage sets. In 2017, he received the San Francisco Opera Medal for his work on Turandot.

Seeing Hockney's Art: Exhibitions

Hockney's art was shown in over 400 solo exhibitions. He also took part in over 500 group shows. His first solo show was in 1963 when he was 26. By 1970, the Whitechapel Gallery in London held a big show of his past works. This show then traveled to other places in Europe.

In 2006, the National Portrait Gallery in London showed a huge collection of Hockney's portraits. It included 150 paintings, drawings, and photos from over five decades. Hockney helped arrange the artworks. This exhibition was one of the gallery's most popular ever.

A Bigger Picture at the Royal Academy in London, January 2012

From 2012 to 2013, the Royal Academy presented A Bigger Picture. This show had over 150 works, many of them large landscapes of Yorkshire. It included oil paintings, watercolours, and drawings made on an iPad. Hockney said the show was "about big things." Over 600,000 people visited this exhibition in London. It then traveled to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and the Ludwig Museum.

In 2017, a major exhibition called David Hockney was held at Tate Britain. It became the most-visited show in the gallery's history. This exhibition celebrated Hockney's 80th birthday. It showed his paintings, drawings, prints, and videos from six decades. Critics praised Hockney for still trying new things, like his iPad drawings. The show then went to Paris and New York.

More recently, in 2023, the Honolulu Museum of Art presented "David Hockney: Perspective Should Be Reversed." This was a large show of his prints, collages, and digital drawings. In 2025, the Fondation Louis Vuitton will host David Hockney 25, showing his works from 1955 to 2025.

Hockney's Life and Home

Hockney's residence in Los Angeles

Hockney's former house on Kingston Road, Bridlington

Hockney started to lose his hearing in the 1970s. He used hearing aids from 1979. He also described seeing colours and shapes when he heard sounds. This is called synesthesia.

Hockney had homes and studios in Bridlington and London, England. He also had two homes in California, where he lived on and off since 1964. These were in the Hollywood Hills and Malibu. He also had an office in West Hollywood, California.

In November 2015, Hockney sold his house in Bridlington. He then moved to Normandy, France, living there until 2023. After that, he returned to London. He enjoyed swimming every day. He was also able to stand for long periods while painting at his easel.

Hockney died peacefully at his home on 11 June 2026, at the age of 88.

Hockney's Public Role

Like his father, Hockney believed in peace. He chose not to fight in wars. Instead, he worked as a medical helper in hospitals from 1957 to 1959. He helped start the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, in 1979. Hockney was also on the board of a political magazine called Standpoint. He drew sketches for its first issue.

In October 2010, Hockney and many other artists signed a letter. They wrote to the government to protest against cuts in funding for the arts.

Where to Find Hockney's Art: Collections

Many of Hockney's artworks are displayed at the 1853 Gallery in Salts Mill in Saltaire, near his hometown of Bradford. The David Hockney Foundation also holds a large collection of his works. His art can be found in many public and private collections around the world, including:

Awards and Special Honours

David Hockney received many awards for his amazing contributions to art. These awards recognized his work in painting, photography, and other visual arts.

• 1967 – John Moores Painting Prize (Walker Art Gallery) for Peter Getting Out of Nick's Pool
• 1983 – Shakespeare Prize (Alfred Toepfer Foundation)
• 1988 – Progress Medal, Royal Photographic Society
• 1990 – Was offered a knighthood (but he said no)
• 1991 – Distinguished Honoree, National Arts Association, Los Angeles
• 1992 – Appointed to the board of trustees, American Associates of the Royal Academy Trust, New York
• 1993 – Award of Achievement, Archives of American Art, Los Angeles
• 1997 – Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH)
• 1997 – Cultural Award, German Society for Photography (DGPh).
• 1997 – Foreign Honorary Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Cambridge, Massachusetts
• 2003 – Special 150th Anniversary Medal and Honorary Fellowship, Royal Photographic Society
• 2003 – Lorenzo de' Medici Lifetime Career Award, Florence Biennale
• 2012 – Appointed to the Order of Merit (OM)

In 2012, a poll of 1,000 British artists voted Hockney as Britain's most influential artist. That same year, he was chosen as one of the British cultural icons. Artist Sir Peter Blake included him in a new version of his famous Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover. Hockney was also a Royal Academician and an honorary member of the Printmakers Council.

He is remembered as one of the most important British artists of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Art Market Highlights

A Bigger Grand Canyon, 1998, National Gallery of Australia

Hockney's paintings have sold for very high prices. In 2006, his painting The Splash sold for £2.6 million. It sold again in 2020 for £23.1 million.

His huge artwork, A Bigger Grand Canyon, which was made of 60 canvases, was bought by the National Gallery of Australia for $4.6 million. Another painting, Beverly Hills Housewife, sold for $7.9 million in 2008. This set a new record for his art at the time. This record was broken again in 2016 when Woldgate Woods sold for £9.4 million.

David Hockney's 1972 painting Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)

On 15 November 2018, Hockney's 1972 painting Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) sold for $90 million (£70 million). This made it the most expensive artwork by a living artist ever sold at auction at that time. He held this record until May 2019.

Even Hockney's iPad drawings have become very popular. Prices for these digital prints have increased a lot over the years.

David Hockney Foundation

The David Hockney Foundation is a charity that the artist created in 2008. Its goal is to help people learn about and appreciate visual art and culture. It does this by showing, taking care of, and publishing David Hockney's artworks.

In 2012, Hockney gave many of his valuable paintings to the Foundation. He also gave money to help it run. The Foundation now owns over 8,000 of his works. These include paintings, drawings, prints, stage designs, and digital art. It also holds his sketchbooks and personal photo albums. The Foundation lends his artworks to museums and exhibitions all over the world.

Appearances in Other Media

In 1966, Hockney was in a documentary film called Love's Presentation. He was also the main subject of a 1974 movie called A Bigger Splash. This film was named after his famous pool painting. Another documentary, Waiting for Hockney (2008), was inspired by him.

Hockney's style also influenced fashion. In 2005, a fashion designer created a menswear collection based on his art. In 2012, his friend, designer Vivienne Westwood, named a jacket after him. He was also asked to design the cover for the French edition of Vogue magazine in 1985. He painted Celia Birtwell from different angles for the cover, showing his interest in cubism.

In 2012, Hockney was included in BBC Radio 4's list of The New Elizabethans. This list honored people who had a big impact on British life during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. The 2015 film A Bigger Splash was also named after his painting.

See also

In Spanish: David Hockney para niños