Hockney's Pictures - Softcover

Hockney, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 050028671X ISBN 13: 9780500286715

Publisher: Thames & Hudson, 2017

Synopsis

A classic, charting fifty years of the creative evolution of one of the most popular andbinfluential artists of modern times

A stunning, lively volume charting almost fifty years of an extraordinary artist’s creativity across a range of media, Hockney’s Pictures is the definitive retrospective of one of the most popular artists of the twentieth century.

The pieces are selected and organized thematically by David Hockney himself, tracking his lifelong experiments in ways of looking and depicting. Including more than 300 illustrations, accompanied by quotes from the artist that illuminate the passionate thinking behind the work, Hockney’s Pictures shows the evolution and diversity of Hockney’s paintings, drawings, watercolors, prints, and photography, confirming and reinforcing his position as one of the world’s most popular living artists.

325 illustrations, 277 in color

About this title

About the Author:

David Hockney is an English artist and is considered to be one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century.

From Publishers Weekly:

In a book with so few words, this quote from Hockney rings out clearly: "I have always believed that art should be a deep pleasure." And it is indeed pleasure that radiates from every page of this retrospective of the British-born artist's career. Starting with his student work of the early 1960s, Hockney has depicted quiet domestic pleasures, the faces of friends and the monuments of foreign countries with an unwavering joy in looking and seeing, even as he has employed a restless array of mediums, including oil, photo-collage, pressed paper pulp and quick, intimate watercolors. The accessibility of Hockney's art has earned him both popular success and jeers from some quarters of the art world that tend to favor "edginess" over happiness. This collection, which is compiled by the artist himself and includes his conversational commentary in the margins, not only gloriously documents Hockney's career, but also provides a riposte to those who see him as a shallow technician of pretty surfaces. The book is divided into sections that showcase Hockney's brainy engagement with the classic problems of modern art ("Problems of Depiction: Movement," "Space and Light"). The case for Hockney's seriousness may have come at the expense of his playful, mischievous side, however. There would have been more than enough material for an amusing section on the male rear end, for example, which has been as much of a Hockney theme as his famous preoccupation with water. But the book's theory-heavy arrangement is unobtrusive. There is only the briefest of introductory text, and captions are confined to titles and dates (full information on each picture is tucked away in an index). The art is allowed to speak for itself and the result is, once again, pure pleasure.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Thames & Hudson
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 050028671X
• ISBN 13: 9780500286715
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368