David Hockney: Ten Things to Know About the Late British Artist

Following the news of his death at the age of 88, we examine a few lesser-known facts about the prolific British artist

This piece was first published on 7 February 2017 and has since been updated.

Born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, in 1937, David Hockney spent more than six decades relentlessly reinventing and evolving his practice, ever since winning a scholarship to his local grammar school. To call him prolific would be an understatement: he moved effortlessly between painting, photography, collage, opera set design and, later, iPad drawings, united by an extraordinary curiosity and a singular way of seeing the world. Hockney remained resistant to the idea of looking back. “It’s always what I’m doing now,” he told The Guardian in 2015. “I don’t reflect too much. I live now. It’s always now.” Following news of the artist's death at the age of 88, here are ten things you might not know about one of Britain’s greatest artists.

1. He was a sort of anarchist
Describing his politics, Hockney once defined his views as “a sort of anarchism” that drew from both left and right. “Personal responsibility is sort of a rightwing thing that anarchists would support, and so do I. Looking after your neighbour is a leftwing thing, and again I would support that. Ultimately, I’m about liberty and I think you have to defend it.”

2. He had synesthesia
Less obvious from the breadth of his practice, Hockney was born with synesthesia and experienced colours in response to musical stimuli. He drew on this while designing sets for ballets and operas including The Rake’s Progress and The Magic Flute, basing colours and lighting on the tones and shades he perceived while listening to the scores.

3. He once refused to graduate
While studying at the Royal College of Art, Hockney refused to complete the essay requirement, arguing that his work should be judged on his art rather than his academic writing. The RCA withheld his diploma, prompting him to create a satirical version of the assignment that mocked the bureaucracy weighing down students. The regulations were eventually changed, and Hockney graduated with the gold medal in painting.

4. He believed in living in the now
Hockney was an ardent defender of the present moment. “It’s a different attitude to time,” he told The Telegraph. “That’s what I have. We all get a lifetime. They’re different, but we all get one.” A vocal supporter of individual liberty, he was sceptical of a culture obsessed with longevity. “Why is everything now geared to longevity?” he asked. “If everything’s directed at longevity, you’re denying life. There is only now.”

5. He mourned the death of Bohemia
Hockney often spoke about what he saw as the disappearance of bohemian life. “Bohemia was against the suburbs, and now the suburbs have taken over. Bohemia is gone now,” he told The Guardian. Reflecting on the relative freedoms he experienced as a young gay man, he argued that bohemia had offered a space of tolerance and nonconformity that had since been lost.

6. He questioned the avant garde’s authority
Hockney was equally sceptical of the contemporary avant garde, arguing that it had lost its cultural influence. “Nobody takes any notice of the avant garde anymore,” he told The Spectator. “They’re finding they’ve lost their authority. They thought they would get authority by damaging the other, earlier establishment. But by doing that you damage all authority.”

7. He was a loyal friend
Hockney remained close to many of his former partners, viewing relationships as things that evolve rather than end. Uninterested in marriage or children, he maintained both a personal and professional relationship with Gregory Evans for more than 40 years. “I’m not one to fall out with people, really,” he once said. “There are some people I don’t see, but it’s because they’re so boring.”

8. He challenged how we understand art history
In collaboration with physicist Charles M Falco, Hockney developed the Hockney–Falco thesis, which argues that the increasing realism of Western art from the Renaissance onwards owed as much to optical devices – including camera obscuras, camera lucidas and curved mirrors – as it did to artistic technique or individual genius. The theory sparked debate in art historical circles and was presented at conferences and in publications around the world.

9. His fascination with swimming pools endured
Hockney’s best-known work, A Bigger Splash, inspired countless homages and helped define a particular vision of Californian cool. But it was never intended as a standalone image. The painting formed part of a wider series that also included The Splash and A Little Splash, transforming the seemingly singular moment of a diver’s disappearance into an exercise in repetition, observation and, perhaps, Hockney’s dry wit.

10. He remained an optimist
Despite his sharp humour and occasional pessimism, Hockney described himself as an optimist. “Yes, in the end it’s no good being a pessimist. And I have a good laugh every day,” he told The Guardian. “You’ve got to. That’s what keeps you going. There’s loads of people who don’t laugh at all, you know.” He often spoke of the joy art could offer, recalling a Henri Matisse exhibition at New York's Museum of Modern Art as a revelation: “That show was unbelievable. It was pure joy. Pure joy. And joy is a great thing to give to people.”

For the Art Project section of AnOther Magazine’s Spring/Summer 2021 issue, David Hockney’s curator, Edith Devaney, and Paco Rabanne creative director Julien Dossena discussed the artist’s work from 1966 to 1978. Read the conversation here.