David Hockney's continuing belief in the importance of the portrait and his virtuoso skill in creating a sense of close communication between artist, sitter and viewer has resulted in some of the best-loved works of the postwar era. From the 1950s on, Hockney's most persistent subject matter, in paintings, drawings, collages and photoworks, has been of people usually very close to him, as well as of himself. These works are narratives of autobiographical relationships: they reflect the intimate and often intense stories of this artist's life. They also explore different formal ways of representing the passage of time and at the same time the unavoidable but marvellous stillness of portraits. The works include fascinating sequences as he paints his mother or Henry Geldzahler or Celia Birtwell on and off for decades; the special qualities attached to depictions of lovers; and the range of celebrities, writers and artists - Billy Wilder, Armistead Maupin, W.H. Auden, Henry Moore, Christopher Isherwood - who have been part of a very full life. The text by a distinguished European critic and curator reinforces the point that this hugely popular English-born artist, who made America his second home, has become a figure of worldwide appeal.

The story of David Hockney's relationships with family, friends and lovers illustrated by works ranging from the intimate to the large-scale

About the Author
Marco Livingstone is an art historian and independent curator, with numerous publications on Pop Art, David Hockney, Patrick Caulfield, R B Kitaj, Allen Jones, Paula Rego, Jim Dine, Peter Blake, Peter Phillips, Duane Michals, Peter Kinley and many others. Kay Heymer is head of the Modern Art Department at the Museum Kunstpalast Dusseldorf in Germany.

Reviews
'An utterly compelling rogues' gallery of the famous, the infamous and the anonymous' - The Spectator
'Attractive and entertaining ... Hockney's gifts (close observation and an elegantly expressive line) have always been evident in his portraits' - Sunday Times
'An elegant framework for an account of a life which is also a study and a celebration of that life's work ... virtually every page turned is another encounter with Hockney's distinctively expressive sense of line and colour' - Times Literary Supplement
'A Thames & Hudson treat' - Vogue



Book Information
ISBN 9780500292341
Author Marco Livingstone
Format Paperback
Page Count 240
Imprint Thames & Hudson Ltd
Publisher Thames & Hudson Ltd
Weight(grams) 1420g