For a contemporary artist of serious aesthetic purpose, David Hockney
enjoys immense, perhaps unequaled public visibility: the shock of dyed
blond hair, the owlish glasses, and the shy, schoolboy grin are known as
much through the popular press as through the journals of the art world.
His engaging personality, his quirky but always enlightening ideas about
art, and his inexhaustible inventiveness both of imagery and of
techniques ranging from oil painting to photography to faxes are
captured by Peter Clothier with clear-eyed intelligence and grace in
this concise but comprehensive overview.
From his theatrical early canvases to his more recent photographic
collages and operatic set designs, Hockney has tackled the challenge of
space on a grand scale. At the same time, much of his work has been
devoted to the things most dear to him-friends, family, home, and
studio. An intellectual of wide-ranging erudition and a world traveler
who makes his home in Hollywood, he still cherishes his roots in
Bradford, the northern British town where he was born in 1937.
Invention, the driving force behind Hockney's art, is in good part play:
If art isn't playful, he once commented, it's nothing. This
illuminating, color-rich volume conveys with vivid clarity Hockney's
serious delight in making art that gives pleasure to both its creator
and its audience.
**About the Modern Masters series:
**
With informative, enjoyable texts and over 100
illustrations?approximately 48 in full color?this innovative series
offers a fresh look at the most creative and influential artists of the
postwar era. The authors are highly respected art historians and critics
chosen for their ability to think clearly and write well. Each
handsomely designed volume presents a thorough survey of the artist's
life and work, as well as statements by the artist, an illustrated
chapter on technique, a chronology, lists of exhibitions and public
collections, an annotated bibliography, and an index. Every art lover,
from the casual museumgoer to the serious student, teacher, critic, or
curator, will be eager to collect these Modern Masters. And with such a
low price, they can afford to collect them all.
