David Hockney by David Hockney

A special, fiftieth-anniversary edition of David Hockney’s witty, candid and revealing account of his life and work.

David Hockney by David Hockney was first published in 1976 and grew out of twenty-five hours of recorded conversation with the artist. A carefully crafted, collaborative memoir, this special full-colour edition marks the fiftieth anniversary of the book’s first publication.

Hockney recounts his early years in Bradford, where he was born, grew up and first went to art school; his years at the Royal College of Art in London, during which he had his breakthrough; his sojourn in California, which inspired some of his best-known paintings, drawings and prints; and his subsequent phase in Paris, where an exhibition at the Louvre established him as a ‘continental master’.

The book’s fascination lies not only in the fact that the text is entirely Hockney’s own – so that his life-story is given full clarity – but also that it reproduces his paintings, graphic work and drawings. The story, presented more or less chronologically, is informative and humorous, full of descriptions of his work, anecdotes about himself, other artists and friends, his thoughts about art and his ambiguous relationship with other styles. Above all, it is the story of an artist who is ceaselessly striving to improve his craft and to portray the world around him imaginatively.