Hockney studied at Bradford School of Art and the Royal College of Art. He first gained attention and national fame even before he graduated from the Royal College in 1962. During his time at the RCA Hockney won a gold medal and the Guinness award for Etching in 1961. He was awarded a prize in the junior section of the John Moores Liverpool Exhibition in 1961 and in the Graphics Section of the Paris Biennale in 1963. Exhibited as a pop artist with a one-man show at the Kasmin Gallery in 1963. He was given a retrospective exhibition of Paintings, Prints and Drawings 1960-70 at the Whitechapel Gallery in 1970. Hockney has been perpetually in the limelight and has gained a reputation for his success in drawings, witty etchings, double portraits and inventive photo collages. A major retrospective covering all aspects of his work was held at Tate Britain in 2017.
David Hockney, OM CH RA (b. 1937), The Red Pot, 1986
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Handmade print in colours executed on a colour copy machine, on laid paper, signed and dated in pencil, numbered 43/60; published by the artist, with his blind-stamp, in the artist’s specified gilded wooden frame
Image and sheet ,13 ¾ x 8 ¼ in (35 x 21.5 cm)
Collection: A gift from the artist and thence by descent
Literature: Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo Hockney Prints 1996 (312)
In February 1986 while working on designs for the Opera Hockney began experimenting with photocopiers to produce what he described as’’ home -made prints’’. Employing traditional printmaking processes and using high quality Arches paper the artist fed the sheets through an office photo copier until each colour had been added.
For Hockney the process was revelatory: ‘’With these copying machines, I can work by myself-indeed you virtually have to work by yourself ,there’s nothing for anyone else to do- and I can work with great speed and responsiveness .In fact , this is the closest I’ve ever come in printing to what it’s like to paint: I can put something down, evaluate it, alter it, revise it, all in a matter of seconds’’ (LACMA, Metropolitan, Tate Hockney Retrospective 1988 p.78).