David Hockney RA
Born: 9 July 1939, Bradford, England, UK
Elected RA: 26 June 1991
Category of Membership: Painter
David Hockney RA, Double Study for 'A Closer Grand Canyon' Oil on canvas 1816 X 1213 mm David Hockney studied at Bradford School of Art from 1953 to 1957 and the Royal College of Art from 1959 until 1962. He was awarded the Royal College of Art gold medal in 1962 in recognition of his mastery as a draughtsman and his innovative paintings. His early work was stylistically diverse, combining graffiti-like images with quotations from the poetry of Walt Whitman.
Hockney moved to Los Angeles in 1963. He produced highly evocative, sometimes homoerotic, iconic images of urban life. By the late 1960s his work had become more naturalistic but it was always characterised by Hockney's alertness to the psychological and emotional resonance of his subject matter.
Hockney's work also includes landscapes, photography, printmaking and stage designs for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera and the Los Angeles Music Centre Opera.
Recent solo exhibitions
2008 Arts Club of Chicago, Illinois
2007 Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg
Tate Britain, London
L.A. Louver Gallery, California
2006 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
National Portrait Gallery, London
2003 Annely Juda Fine Art, London
Wiseman Originals, London
2002 Science Museum, London
2001 Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn
Galerie Lelong, Paris
Public collections
Astrup Fearnley Museet for Moderne Kunst, Norway
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, USA
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, USA
Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, USA
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles USA
National Museums and Galleries of Wales, Cardiff
Tate Liverpool, London
Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, England
York City Art Gallery, England
Publications
That’s the Way I See It, David Hockney, Thames and Hudson, 1999
Secret Knowledge: Rediscovering the Lost Techniques of the Old Masters, David Hockney, Thames and Hudson, 2001
Hockney on Art, David Hockney, Little Brown, 2002
Hockney by Hockney, David Hockney, Thames and Hudson, 1988
David Hockney: A Drawing Retrospective, Ulrich Luckhardt and Paul Melia, Thames and Hudson, 2001
David Hockney, Marco Livingstone (World of Art Series), Thames and Hudson, 1996
Outlines: David Hockney, Peter Adam, Absolute Press, 1997
Contact details for further information
Email membershipoffice@royalacademy.org.uk
