David Hockney

Résumé du document

David Hockney is a painter, draughtsman, printmaker, photographer and designer. He can, perhaps, be considered as the most popular and versatile British artist of the 20th century. Mainly active in America, he is recognised as an important contributor to the British Pop Art of the 1960s. Born in Bradford, on 9 July 1937, he claims to have 'decided in my mind that I wanted to be an artist', by the age of eleven. The general lack of visual education in schools at that time pushed him to pursue his artistic training at the regional College of Arts in Bradford. Here, he received a very rigorous and academic education which covered mostly painting. He made an oil painting of his father, which he submitted to the Yorkshire Artists Exhibition in 1954. He went on to participate in other local exhibitions in Bradford and Leeds.

Extraits

[...] In 1970 Hockney painted Mr. and Mrs. Clarke with Percy. The painting has become one of the most popular in the collection of the Tate Gallery and was voted as one of the UK's favourite paintings. Hockney's work for the stage since 1975 brought out his essential inventiveness and helped free him of the constraints of his naturalistic mode. The broader style demanded by stage design can also be seen later on in his easel paintings. His most notable designs included productions at the Glyndebourne Opera Festival of Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress in 1975 and of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte in 1978, and at the Metropolitan Opera, New York. [...]

[...] His obsession, energy and curiosity resulted in large bodies of work in different media which has made his art largely accessible. Hockney's identification with Picasso, Matisse and other modern masters has been viewed with suspicion by those who think his motives cynical and self- promoting. - D. Hockney, Hockney by Hockney, My early years, Thames & Hudson, England - J. Fremon, David Hockney, Galerie Lelong - M. Livingstone, David Hockney: Portraits de famille, Thames & Hudson - R. Mistelbeck, David Hockney, Edition Braus, Germany - J. [...]

[...] One recurring theme of Hockney's work is water. He became very interested in the general problem of painting water, especially swimming pools and the artificial appearance of the water that fills them. The squiggly patterns of swimming pool water or its inert flatness can be seen in his numerous studies on the subject matter. Hockney's originality as a printmaker was apparent by the time he produced A Rake's Progress (1961–1963); a series of 16 etchings conceived as a contemporary and autobiographical version of William Hogarth's visual narrative. [...]

[...] The subject would actually move while being photographed so that the piece would show the movements of the subject seen from the photographer's perspective. In later works Hockney changed his technique and moved the camera around the subject instead . In the nineties, Hockney continued to experiment with new technologies. He used a colour laser photocopier in some of his works and reproduced some of his paintings, what is referred to as his ‘home made prints.' Hockney was impressed with the vibrancy of colour that could be achieved using such devices. [...]

[...] David Hockney David Hockney is a painter, draughtsman, printmaker, photographer and designer. He could perhaps be considered as the most popular and versatile British artist of the 20th century. Mainly active in America he is recognised as an important contributor to the British Pop Art of the 1960s. Born in Bradford on 9 July 1937, he claims to have already “decided in my mind that I wanted to be an artist,” by the age of eleven. The general lack of visual education in schools at that time pushed him to pursue his artistic training at the regional College of Art in Bradford. [...]