{"id":1075,"date":"2022-06-27T13:05:42","date_gmt":"2022-06-27T11:05:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hockney2022.ch\/leben\/"},"modified":"2022-07-14T13:28:45","modified_gmt":"2022-07-14T11:28:45","slug":"leben","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.hockney2022.ch\/en\/hockney\/leben\/","title":{"rendered":"Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Painter by Birth\n<\/h2>\n\n
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David Hockney set out on his pathway to art very early in his life. He never even considered a profession other than that of an artist.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

His Parents<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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David Hockney, My Parents<\/em>, 1977, Oil on canvas, 193 \u00d7 183 cm, Tate: Purchased 1981, \u00a9 David Hockney<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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David was born to Laura and Kenneth Hockney in 1937, the fourth of five children. He and his siblings grew up in Bradford, where he attended art school from the age of 16. His father Kenneth was a tinkerer whose inventiveness was legendary. Laura Hockney, David\u2019s mother, was a devout Methodist and strict vegetarian. She brought up her children lovingly, and in the course of doing so had to abandon some of her convictions. David Hockney was 45 years old before his mother grasped the fact that her son was homosexual. She apologised to him for her naivety in a touching letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both parents encouraged their son to become an artist and to move from the art college in Bradford to the Royal Academy of Arts in London.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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 \u201cI was interested in everything at first. It was thrilling after being at the Grammar School, to be at a school where I knew I would enjoy everything they asked me to do. I loved it all and I used to spend twelve hours a day in the art school.\u201d<\/p>David Hockney<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Woman with a Sewing Machine <\/em>is one of Hockney\u2019s earliest prints. His mother Laura was his model. Hockney\u2019s numerous portraits of his mother testify to the very close relationship between mother and son.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Blessed with Creativity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For David Hockney, love is the origin of all creativity and art, which is why his loved ones and loving partners turn up repeatedly in his works. He depicted his own partner of many years, Peter Schlesinger, among others in a famous pool painting. Hockney worked through the separation from Schlesinger in Jack Hazan\u2019s film A Bigger Splash<\/em><\/a> (GB, 1974), in which he plays himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gregory Evens, Hockney\u2019s former assistant and partner, often modelled for the artist. Hockney painted more than 40 portraits of him in various styles. But Hockney\u2019s love is not only directed at people. His dachshunds were his faithful companions and can be seen in some of his paintings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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David Hockney and his dog Stanley, 1991, \u00a9 National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Gift of Kenneth Tyler 2002<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Celia \u2013 Hockney’s Muse<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Over the decades Hockney has painted numerous people from his circle of friends repeatedly and in different styles. In addition to his mother, his favourite model has been the British fashion designer Celia Birtwell. They have been friends since the 1960s and are bound by a common sense of mischievousness. Along with humour, Birthwell, as a fashion designer, also tends towards eccentricity. It may very well be precisely this one of her traits that fascinates Hockney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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David Hockney draws An image of Celia<\/em> while Celia Birtwell sits beside him, \u00a9 National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Gift of Kenneth Tyler 2002, photo: Kenneth Tyler <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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David Hockney, Celia with Green Hat<\/em>, 1984, Lithography on paper, 76 \u00d7 56.5 cm, Tate: Presented by the artist 1993, \u00a9 David Hockney \/ Tyler Graphics Ltd., photo: Richard Schmidt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cThe first time I spotted David was at Portobello Market. I was with a friend who knew him. He just stood out \u2013 he always has. He had on a corduroy jacket \u2013 and had the hair dyed blond. Ossie was better friends with him, and used to stay in his studio. I think he finds me a little bit ridiculous, but there is a fondness there. If I amuse him, then that\u2019s a compliment. It definitely works both ways \u2013 he\u2019s very funny.\u201d<\/em><\/p>Celia Birtwell, 2020<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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David Hockney, Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy<\/em>, 1970, Acrylic on canvas Leinwand, 217 \u00d7 308.4 cm, Tate: Presented by the Friends of the Tate Gallery 1971, \u00a9 David Hockney<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Hockney painted many portraits of Celia Birtwell: a red Celia, a cubist Celia and the double portrait Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy<\/em>, showing her and her partner at the time Ossie Clark.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Love Life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

David Hockney is an optimist. During the pandemic, when projects were being cancelled or postponed, when visiting and travel were impossible, he published a volume of interviews entitled Spring cannot be cancelled<\/em>. His conviction that life is beautiful and the world is good has accompanied Hockney throughout his whole life. Even in the 1980s, when many of his homosexual friends were dying of AIDS, Hockney tried to focus on the nicer things in life. He sent his friend Ren\u00e9 a still life of flowers and the drawing LOVE LIFE<\/em> on the occasion of the death of his partner Nathan. Ren\u00e9 himself was HIV positive and died a short time later, also of AIDS. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In no way does \u00abLove Life\u00bb represent a naive stance. On the contrary, Hockney is convinced that in the face of personal loss or global crises, the greatest consolation is to be found in the beauty of things: a wave, a blossom, the changing of the seasons, or a sunrise.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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David Hockney, Still Life<\/em>, 1986, Acrylic on canvas, Rafael Brunner, Presented by the artist to Ren\u00e9 Amrein, \u00a9 David Hockney<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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David Hockney, Dearest Rene, Love Life<\/em>, 1989, Coloured pencil on paper, Estate Rosmarie Amrein, Presented by the artist to Ren\u00e9 Amrein, \u00a9 David Hockney<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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