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David Hockney. A Chronology
Pop artist, painter of modern life, landscape painter, master of color, explorer of image and perception―for six decades, David Hockney has been known as an artist who always finds new ways of exploring the world and its representational possibilities. He has consistently created unforgettable images: works with graphic lines and integrated text in the Swinging Sixties in London; the famous swimming pool series as a representation of the 1970s California lifestyle; closely observed portraits and brightly colored, oversized landscapes after his eventual return to his native Yorkshire. In addition to drawings in which he transfers what he sees directly onto paper, there are multiperspective Polaroid collages that open up the space into a myriad of detailed views, and iPad drawings in which he captures light using a most modern medium―testaments to Hockney’s enduring delight in experimentation.
This special edition has been newly assembled from the two volumes of the David Hockney: A Bigger Book monograph to celebrate TASCHEN’s 40th anniversary. Hockney’s life and work is presented year by year as a dialogue between his works and voices from the time period, alongside reviews and reflections by the artist in a chronological text, supplemented by portrait photographs and exhibition views. Together they open up new perspectives, page after page, revealing how Hockney undertakes his artistic research, how his painting develops, and where he finds inspiration for his multifaceted work.
This special edition has been newly assembled from the two volumes of the David Hockney: A Bigger Book monograph to celebrate TASCHEN’s 40th anniversary. Hockney’s life and work is presented year by year as a dialogue between his works and voices from the time period, alongside reviews and reflections by the artist in a chronological text, supplemented by portrait photographs and exhibition views. Together they open up new perspectives, page after page, revealing how Hockney undertakes his artistic research, how his painting develops, and where he finds inspiration for his multifaceted work.
- GenresArtNonfictionBiography
512 pages, Hardcover
First published November 4, 2020
About the author
Hans Werner Holzwarth
38 books6 followersHans Werner Holzwarth is a book designer and editor of numerous publications, mainly on contemporary art and photography.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
August 22, 2021
This budget Taschen book – 20 euros, like the stellar Basquiat in the same 40th Anniversary Edition series – is a marvel. 511 pages, excellent reproductions and an authoritative, clear text by Lutz Eitel.
It is a newly assembled edition of the SUMO size David Hockney: A Bigger Book and the chronology volume that accompanied that expensive limited edition mammoth. It is the only career spanning monograph in existence I know of. There’s 2007’s Hockney’s pictures by Thames & Hudson, but that is very, very low on text.
It is effectively organized as a chronology, starting at the end of the 50ies up onto 2016, and has about 1.5 page text for each year, followed by about 8 to 10 pages of art. Hockney’s full oeuvre is on display: paintings, water colors, drawings, photographic assemblages, stage designs, iPad drawings, etc.
The text is filled with interesting stuff. For instance, I was unaware that Hockney was the one who discovered the use of lenses by Vermeer, Ingres and Caravaggio in the early 2000s, an important discovery that changed the perception of that part of art history.
The only issue I have – as with the Basquiat – is that the book doesn’t include the artworks’ whereabouts, although you can guess for some via the credits of the photos at the end. It does include a list of publications and shows for each year, and each time a full page photograph of Hockney himself too.
The book has me eager for more, especially for his work of the last 15 years, although his entire career is humbling indeed.
Simply put: a no brainer for any Hockney fan, even if it would cost double or thrice the price. Taschen has delivered yet again, but I’m not sure if it is still in print, even though it is a very recent title. It’s not listed on the Taschen website anymore, so if you can still find it, don’t dither.
More art book reviews on Weighing A Pig Doesn't Fatten It
It is a newly assembled edition of the SUMO size David Hockney: A Bigger Book and the chronology volume that accompanied that expensive limited edition mammoth. It is the only career spanning monograph in existence I know of. There’s 2007’s Hockney’s pictures by Thames & Hudson, but that is very, very low on text.
It is effectively organized as a chronology, starting at the end of the 50ies up onto 2016, and has about 1.5 page text for each year, followed by about 8 to 10 pages of art. Hockney’s full oeuvre is on display: paintings, water colors, drawings, photographic assemblages, stage designs, iPad drawings, etc.
The text is filled with interesting stuff. For instance, I was unaware that Hockney was the one who discovered the use of lenses by Vermeer, Ingres and Caravaggio in the early 2000s, an important discovery that changed the perception of that part of art history.
The only issue I have – as with the Basquiat – is that the book doesn’t include the artworks’ whereabouts, although you can guess for some via the credits of the photos at the end. It does include a list of publications and shows for each year, and each time a full page photograph of Hockney himself too.
The book has me eager for more, especially for his work of the last 15 years, although his entire career is humbling indeed.
Simply put: a no brainer for any Hockney fan, even if it would cost double or thrice the price. Taschen has delivered yet again, but I’m not sure if it is still in print, even though it is a very recent title. It’s not listed on the Taschen website anymore, so if you can still find it, don’t dither.
More art book reviews on Weighing A Pig Doesn't Fatten It
July 30, 2022
Love his colors. Love his style. Love his vitality - he’s been working since the ‘50s, and today he’s still producing gorgeous electronics paintings using his iPad.
January 2, 2023
I thought carefully when I bought this book, full price as it was in The Cartwright Gallery in Bradford, wondering whether I would get my money's worth or whether I was at that point a little culture drunk from having spent the previous hour looking round an interesting and impressive Hockney exhibition at the gallery.
Overall I'm glad I bought it, and I did get plenty from reading it. The chronological format suited me as a casual reader, most chapters dealing with a specific year and consisting of two or three pages of text and then eight or ten pages of full colour and decent sized pictures. The style of the text remained factual and biographical and never strayed into unnecessary hyperbole, and I thought it a very fair and thorough treatment.
Not necessarily particularly simple to read cover to cover, as a reference and as an introduction it was however excellent. I prefer much of the artist’s earlier work so enjoyed this a little more than the more hedonistic and arty farty pretentious bits at the height of Hockney's success, so the second half held my interest less than the first, despite some of his recent works returning to the simplicity of his naive younger pieces. However as a companion to an enjoyable trip to the artist's birth city and as a book to dip into again, a success.
Overall I'm glad I bought it, and I did get plenty from reading it. The chronological format suited me as a casual reader, most chapters dealing with a specific year and consisting of two or three pages of text and then eight or ten pages of full colour and decent sized pictures. The style of the text remained factual and biographical and never strayed into unnecessary hyperbole, and I thought it a very fair and thorough treatment.
Not necessarily particularly simple to read cover to cover, as a reference and as an introduction it was however excellent. I prefer much of the artist’s earlier work so enjoyed this a little more than the more hedonistic and arty farty pretentious bits at the height of Hockney's success, so the second half held my interest less than the first, despite some of his recent works returning to the simplicity of his naive younger pieces. However as a companion to an enjoyable trip to the artist's birth city and as a book to dip into again, a success.
April 21, 2024
te amo hockney amo tus piscinas amo tus tulipanes y amo todotodotodotodo 🌷☀️🐟💌💌💌💌💌
December 24, 2021
Sublime et inspirante lecture du début à la fin. Un plaisir de découvrir l’univers de cet artiste dont j’admire énormément le travail.
November 25, 2022
un señor la mar de majo
September 13, 2022
“… art making is as involuntary as breathing to Mr. Hockney, and everything he does - the people he’s with, the places he goes - is in deference to it.”
truly enamoured
truly enamoured
September 25, 2024
esta edición es hermosa 💌
February 28, 2022
Fascinante recuento, año tras año, de la trayectoria de este pintor. Se puede ver con claridad qué lo estimula, cómo evoluciona, qué hechos lo hacen explorar territorios nuevos. Un hombre inquieto, obsesionado, que nunca deja de experimentar.
September 27, 2024
SO everything started between Hockney and me upon encountering his seasonal paintings as the cover of Ali Smith's Quartet. I thought gosh, it doesn't really look like nature at all —he's like a counterMonet— yet I can't stop looking at it, thinking about it. And looking for him on the net, it's a never-ending source of images; how the man has worked, really, all his life. Got one book of him after another; going tomorrow to London basically to see his interactive show and some of his paintings along Piero at the National Gallery; love him more than any other painter, even though my admiration for Vermeer, van Eyck or van Gogh remains intact. This book, a chronography, has allowed me to know more about his beginnings and about his motifs, about the freedom he has always felt in going from one format or technique to another just becauses he pleases to do so. He's an utterly inspiring artist, really, and what I fear now is that he might die someday and leave us in a somber world. Lovely.
September 25, 2024
A very thorough but still very easy-to-read chronology of Hockney's life and art. I continue to be amazed at just how many areas of art he has not only tried his hand at, but also mastered, and often re-imagined.
May 22, 2022
Bravo bravo! David Hockney is awesome!!!!!!
February 11, 2023
Inspirational
May 5, 2023
What a mammoth achievement. 512 compelling pages of text and images. I am truly blown away by Hockney's oeuvre. I had no idea he had produced so much amazing work. Very readable and informative.
July 2, 2023
4.5 stars
March 27, 2024
Amazing art book!!! He’s the best!!
April 21, 2024
How every art book should be published.
May 17, 2024
To be continually in love with life and curious. Oh, and to be so skilled!
May 18, 2024
He truly is a fantastic British artist with a fine repertoire of colourful, poignant art pieces that span many decades. This book offers a fantastic insight into his mind and genius.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews