David Hockney

 

David Hockney was born on July 9, 1937, in Bradford, England.  In 1953, Hockney enrolled in the College of Art and began painting with oils.  Hockney then enrolled in the Painting School of the Royal College in London two years later, where and when he would gain national attention as an artist.  Hockney learned that painting was a process of seeing and thinking, rather than one of imitation. His artwork was abstract and quite personal and allowed him to deal with human sexuality and love in a public, yet still inhibited manner.  Hockney is an artist that has always enjoyed success and praise, facing little to no hardship in his career. What is interesting about his life is not the problems he has encountered, but the strides he has taken to bypass much human suffering and malaise. Around the time when Hockney moved to California he began to develope the naturalistic, realistic style he is most known for today.   In the eighties, Hockney began doing photo collage. Using a Polaroid camera, Hockney would assemble collages of photos that he would take as quickly as possible. Hockney was fascinated with the idea of seeing things through a window frame. This medium allowed him to see things in a whole new fashion.

 

Exhibitions:

 

2005                 Art Museum at U.C. Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA
2004                 David Hockney,  Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Santiago de Chile
2004                 Art and the 60s: This was Tomorrow, Tate Britain, London
2002                 British Pop Art , Alan Cristea Gallery, London
2001                 Pop On Paper, Galerie Burkhard Eikelmann • Düsseldorf, Duesseldorf
2000                 'David Hockney - A Print Retrospective' Alan Cristea Gallery, London

2000                 National Gallery exhibition 'Encounters: New Art from Old' Sept 14 - 17

1999                 'Recent Etchings' Alan Cristea Gallery, London

1997                 New still-life paintings and self portraits from largest London Private Gallery exhibition 'Flowers, Faces and Spaces' at Annely Juda Fine Art, London

1996                 Retrospective of drawings, Royal Academy of Art, London

1995                 Opens his travelling drawing retrospective in Hamburg in the summer (travels to Royal Academy, London and the Los Angeles County Museum, California)

1988                 'David Hockney: A Retrospective' Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and The Tate Gallery, London

 

Collections:

 

J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles                                Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City                     Art Institute of Chicago  

National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.                         Manchester City Art Gallery, UK

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco                              Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Los Angeles County Museum of Art Database                  National Museums Liverpool, UK

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles                     York Art Gallery, UK

National Museums & Galleries of Wales                           Vero Beach Museum of Art, Florida

Victoria and Albert Museum Catalogue, London               Contemporary Museum, Honolulu

National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario                     Whitworth Art Gallery, UK

Centre Pompidou - Musée National d´Art Moderne, Paris