D A V I D H O C K N E Y

David Hockney was born in Bradford, England, on July 9, 1937. He loved books and was interested in art from an early age, admiring Picasso, Matisse and Fragonard His parents encouraged their son’s artistic exploration and gave him the freedom to doodle and daydream

Hockney’s early paintings incorporated his literary leanings, and he used fragments of poems and quotations from Walt Whitman in his work. This practice, and paintings such as We Two Boys Clinging Together, which he created in 1961, were the first nods to his homosexuality in his art.

Because he frequently went to the movies with his father as a child, Hockney once quipped that he was raised in both Bradford and Hollywood. He was drawn to the light and the heat of California, and first visited Los Angeles in 1963 He officially moved there in 1966 The swimming pools of L A were one of his favorite subjects, and he became known for large, iconic works such as A Bigger Splash His expressionistic style evolved, and by the 1970s, he was considered more of a realist.

In the late 1980s, Hockney primarily started painting seascapes, flowers and portraits of loved ones. He also began incorporating technology in his art, creating his first homemade prints on a photocopier in 1986. The marriage of art and technology became an ongoing fascination he used laser fax machines and laser printers in 1990, and in 2009 he started using the Brushes app on iPhones and iPads to create paintings A 2011 exhibit at the Royal Museum of Ontario showcased 100 of these paintings

In a 2011 poll of more than 1,000 British artists, Hockney was voted the most influential British artist of all time. He continues to paint and exhibit, and advocates for funding for the arts.