Wednesday 21 September 2016

Tate - Think you know Hockney?

TAKE A NEW LOOK AT HOCKNEY

David Hockney
FIND OUT MORE
Our new retrospective at Tate Britain looks afresh at the pioneering and iconic artist David Hockney. To celebrate, here's four things you might not have known about the man himself.

1.    He sold his first painting for £10

Hockney sold Portrait of My Father 1955 at the age of 18. The sale was encouraged by his father, who reasoned that he could always ‘do another’.

2.    He changed the rules

Hockney refused to write an essay for his final exam at the RCA, protesting that he be judged on his art. Recognising his talent, the RCA altered their requirements and Hockney graduated.

3.    He's had a lifelong love affair with literature

Hockney’s early work was greatly influenced by the poet Walt Whitman. He has also painted many writers including Christopher Isherwood and W.H. Auden. 

4.    He was an early reality star

In 1971 the filmmaker Jack Hazan followed the artist for three years, culminating in the 1974 feature-length semi-fictionalised film also titled A Bigger Splash.