The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011
2011 · iPad drawing printed on paper · 140 × 220 cm
A Bigger Grand Canyon
1998 · Oil on canvas (60 canvases) · 207 × 744 cm
Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy
1971 · Acrylic on canvas · 214 × 305 cm
Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)
1972 · Acrylic on canvas · 214 × 305 cm
A Bigger Splash
1967 · Acrylic on canvas · 244 × 244 cm
David Hockney (born 1937) is a British artist considered one of the most influential painters of the 20th and 21st centuries. He is best known for his vibrant California swimming pool paintings, intimate double portraits, and Yorkshire landscapes. His 1972 painting Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) sold for $90.3 million in 2018.
His most iconic works include A Bigger Splash (1967), Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) (1972), Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy (1970–1971), A Bigger Grand Canyon (1998), and his Joiner photo-collages from the 1980s. More recently, his monumental landscape The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire (2011) has been widely exhibited.
Hockney is associated with Pop Art but his work transcends simple categorization. His style combines vivid color, precise observation, and a deep engagement with how we perceive space and depth. He has drawn from Picasso, Chinese scroll painting, and photography, and pioneered new media including Polaroid collages, fax art, and iPad paintings.
Since 2009, Hockney has embraced the iPad as a painting tool, creating thousands of digital drawings and paintings using the Brushes app. His iPad works — from still lifes to landscapes — demonstrate his belief that new technology simply offers new ways of making marks. Major exhibitions of his iPad art have toured internationally.
Hockney moved to Los Angeles in 1964, drawn by the light, the lifestyle, and the freedom to live openly as a gay man. California's swimming pools, sunshine, and architecture became central subjects of his art. The contrast between grey England and sun-drenched L.A. electrified his palette and helped define his most iconic works.
This page features public domain works by David Hockney and is not managed by the artist.
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