David Hockney Quotes

Powerful David Hockney for Daily Growth

About David Hockney

David Hockney (born July 9, 1937) is an influential British painter, draughtsman, printmaker, photographer, and stage designer who has made significant contributions to the visual arts world since his emergence in the 1960s. Born in Bradford, Yorkshire, England, Hockney grew up amidst a family of modest means, nurturing a keen interest in art from an early age. He attended the local school of art and, later, the Royal College of Art in London, where he was exposed to various artistic movements such as Pop Art and Abstract Expressionism. Hockney quickly gained notoriety for his vibrant, often humorous, paintings that showcased a unique blend of realism and abstraction. His early works, such as "A Bigger Splash" (1967) and the "We Two" series (1961-1965), captured the spirit of the Swinging Sixties in London. In the 1970s, Hockney moved to California, where he was inspired by the sunny landscapes and swimming pools. This period produced iconic pieces like "Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)" (1972) and the multi-panel work "California Pictures" (1968-1970). Hockney's oeuvre spans various mediums, including photography, most notably in his Polaroid series, and innovative digital artworks using techniques such as iPad drawings. His collaborative stage designs for operas and ballets have also been widely acclaimed. Throughout his prolific career, Hockney has continually pushed the boundaries of traditional art forms while exploring themes of love, identity, and nature with an unapologetic, colorful style that continues to captivate audiences worldwide.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Everything in life is painting and that's painting in life."

David Hockney's quote, "Everything in life is painting and that's painting in life," emphasizes the profound interconnectivity between our experiences and artistic expression. It suggests that every aspect of life, from relationships to nature, can serve as inspiration for art, and similarly, the act of creating art can enrich and illuminate our understanding of life itself. In essence, Hockney encourages us to view life through an artist's lens, finding beauty in the ordinary and using our experiences to inform our creative endeavors.

"I don't make art for any particular audience. I make art for myself."

This quote emphasizes that artist David Hockney creates artwork primarily to fulfill his personal artistic needs and aspirations, rather than for the approval or validation of a specific audience. In essence, he pursues art as an individual, self-expressive endeavor, which is crucial in preserving authenticity and creative freedom within his work.

"The most extraordinary thing about nature is you can focus on one little bit of it, and all the rest of it disappears."

This quote by David Hockney highlights the power of human perception and our ability to concentrate on specific aspects of nature while temporarily ignoring the surrounding details. It underscores the idea that when we focus intensely on a small part of nature, such as a single leaf or a vibrant flower, our minds eliminate distractions, immersing us in the beauty and wonder of that particular moment. This focus allows us to appreciate and cherish the intricacies of nature more profoundly, reminding us of the endless diversity and complexity hidden within even the smallest fragments of the natural world.

"Art is not a spectator sport."

David Hockney's quote, "Art is not a spectator sport," emphasizes that art is an active process, not a passive one. It suggests that appreciating art isn't merely about observing it; instead, one should engage with it, understand its context, and even interpret it in personal ways. In essence, Hockney encourages people to participate actively in the art experience, fostering creativity, empathy, and self-expression.

"I think that everything is interesting if you look at it long enough."

David Hockney's quote suggests that with patience and observation, seemingly ordinary or mundane subjects can become interesting and reveal intricate details. It emphasizes the importance of perspective in finding beauty and meaning in our surroundings, encouraging us to look beyond surface appearances and delve deeper into understanding the world around us.

I'm always excited by the unlikely, never by ordinary things.

- David Hockney

Never, Excited, Always, Unlikely

I went to art school actually when I was sixteen years old.

- David Hockney

Art, School, Actually, Sixteen

The mind is the limit. As long as the mind can envision the fact that you can do something, you can do it, as long as you really believe 100 percent.

- David Hockney

Mind, You Can Do It, Fact, Envision

West Yorkshire is quite dramatic and beautiful, the crags and things.

- David Hockney

Beautiful, West, Dramatic, Yorkshire

East Yorkshire, to the uninitiated, just looks like a lot of little hills. But it does have these marvelous valleys that were caused by glaciers, not rivers. So it is unusual.

- David Hockney

Rivers, Glaciers, Like, Yorkshire

Shadows sometimes people don't see shadows. The Chinese of course never paint them in pictures, oriental art never deals with shadow. But I noticed these shadows and I knew it meant it was sunny.

- David Hockney

Art, Shadow, Meant, Shadows

People criticized me for my photography. They said it's not art.

- David Hockney

Art, Me, Said, Criticized

Who's going to ask a painter to see a diploma? They'd say, 'Can I see your paintings?', wouldn't they?

- David Hockney

See, Going, Painter, Diploma

I'm a very early riser, and I don't like to miss that beautiful early morning light.

- David Hockney

Morning, Beautiful, Very, Early

I had always planned to make a large painting of the early spring, when the first leaves are at the bottom of the trees, and they seem to float in space in a wonderful way. But the arrival of spring can't be done in one picture.

- David Hockney

Art, Arrival, Had, Early

I worked in the NHS as a hospital orderly during my national service, and people thought it was a noble service. But over the years it's lost its humanity.

- David Hockney

People, Thought, Over, Orderly

Laugh a lot. It clears the lungs.

- David Hockney

Lungs, Lot, Clears, Laugh

You can't name the inventor of the camera. The 19th-century invention was chemical: the fixative.

- David Hockney

Name, Chemical, Inventor, Invention

I made a photograph of a garden in Kyoto, the Zen garden, which is a rectangle. But a photograph taken from any one point will not show, well it shows a rectangle, but not with ninety degree angles.

- David Hockney

Zen, Kyoto, Which, Garden

A lot of people, given the chance, would blow up everything, and you and me.

- David Hockney

Chance, Lot, Given, Blow

I'm very attracted to the great open spaces of the West.

- David Hockney

Very, Open Spaces, Attracted, Spaces

Photographs aren't accounts of scrutiny. The shutter is open for a fraction of a second.

- David Hockney

Shutter, Photographs, Accounts

I'm not going to stop painting just to take orders.

- David Hockney

Stop, Going, Take, Orders

I was 18 when I first visited London, I'm very provincial like that, but I must confess the moment I got to America I thought: This is the place. It was more open, with 24-hour cities and pubs and restaurants that didn't close.

- David Hockney

Thought, London, Very, Provincial

I was always struck by how Picasso had no interest in music.

- David Hockney

Music, How, Always, Struck

On the iPhone I tended to draw with my thumb. Whereas the moment I got to the iPad, I found myself using every finger.

- David Hockney

Finger, Thumb, Using, Whereas

Tobacco is America's greatest gift to the world!

- David Hockney

Gift, World, Tobacco, Greatest Gift

When you are older, you realise that everything else is just nothing compared to painting and drawing.

- David Hockney

Painting, Nothing, Realise, Everything Else

You must plan to be spontaneous.

- David Hockney

Plan, You, Must, Spontaneous

I think cubism has not fully been developed. It is treated like a style, pigeonholed and that's it.

- David Hockney

Think, Been, Treated, Fully

Television is becoming a collage - there are so many channels that you move through them making a collage yourself. In that sense, everyone sees something a bit different.

- David Hockney

Through, Making, Move, Channels

I draw flowers every day and send them to my friends so they get fresh blooms every morning.

- David Hockney

Flowers, Every Day, Them, Fresh

You had to be aware that I saw that photography was a mere episode in the history of the optical projection and when the chemicals ended, meaning the picture was fixed by chemicals, we were in a new era.

- David Hockney

New, Saw, The History Of, New Era

It's time to debate images, especially when someone's going to prison for downloading them.

- David Hockney

Debate, Someone, Images, Downloading

I live wherever I happen to be.

- David Hockney

Live, Happen, Wherever

I see the iPad as a wonderful new drawing medium, but I am at a loss as to how to make it pay.

- David Hockney

New, Pay, I See, iPad

I can often tell when drawings are done from photographs, because you can tell what they miss out, what the camera misses out: usually weight and volume - there's a flatness to them.

- David Hockney

Tell, Weight, Often, Misses

I don't value prizes of any sort.

- David Hockney

Value, Sort, Any, Prizes

I stay up nights and fiddle with my opera designs. It's a bit obsessive. That's why I can't do it all the time.

- David Hockney

Opera, Why, Bit, Designs

But the moment you use an ordinary camera, you are not seeing the picture, remember, meaning, you had to remember what you've taken. Now you could see it of course, with a digital thing, but remember in 1982 you couldn't.

- David Hockney

Digital, Could, Use, Camera

When you stop doing something, it doesn't mean you are rejecting the previous work. That's the mistake; it's not rejecting it, it's saying, 'I have exploited it enough now and I wish to take a look at another corner.'

- David Hockney

Doing, Another, Rejecting, Exploited

Drawing makes you see things clearer, and clearer and clearer still, until your eyes ache.

- David Hockney

Drawing, See, Still, Clearer

I actually think the deafness makes you see clearer. If you can't hear, you somehow see.

- David Hockney

Think, See, Actually, Clearer

I avoid the public because the English public is too aggressive these days for me.

- David Hockney

English, Public, Too, Aggressive

People tell me they open my e-mails first, because they aren't demands and you don't need to reply. They're simply for pleasure.

- David Hockney

Pleasure, Need, Tell, Reply

It's very British to go about to see something unusual and paint it.

- David Hockney

Go, See, Very, Unusual

All film directors, even the ones using 3-D today, want you to look at what they chose.

- David Hockney

Want, Directors, Using, Film Directors

I'm fed up with being bossed around.

- David Hockney

Up, Being, Fed, Fed Up

I think Picasso was, without doubt, the greatest portraitist of the 20th century, if not any other century.

- David Hockney

Think, Other, I Think, Picasso

Picasso is still influencing me. Of course, I haven't got that kind of energy, or skill.

- David Hockney

Skill, Kind, Still, Picasso

Being able to draw means being able to put things in believable space. People who don't draw very well can't do that.

- David Hockney

Very, Being, Means, Believable

But slowly I began to use cameras and then think about what it was that was going on. It took me a long time, I mean I actually played with cameras and photography for about 20 years.

- David Hockney

Think, Began, Took, Slowly

And then I went round the corner and there's a Van Gogh portrait, and you just think, well, this is another level. A higher level, actually. I love the Sargent, but it's not the level of Van Gogh.

- David Hockney

Love, Think, Van, Portrait

As for the world of fashion and celebrity, I have the usual interest in the human comedy, but the problems of depiction absorb me more.

- David Hockney

Comedy, Celebrity, Usual, Absorb

I'm not really looking for theater work. But if somebody approaches me with enthusiasm, I might respond.

- David Hockney

Work, Might, Approaches, Respond

What an artist is trying to do for people is bring them closer to something, because of course art is about sharing. You wouldn't be an artist unless you wanted to share an experience, a thought.

- David Hockney

Art, Thought, Artist, Sharing

Yes, I did, I mean I painted er, in a kind of abstract expressionist way, because of course that was exciting.

- David Hockney

Kind, Yes, Painted, Abstract

Smoking calms me down. It's enjoyable. I don't want politicians deciding what is exciting in my life.

- David Hockney

My Life, Want, Politicians, Enjoyable

As you get older, it gets a bit harder to keep the spontaneity in you, but I work at it.

- David Hockney

Work, Get, Keep, Harder

I'm a bit of a propagandist.

- David Hockney

Bit, Propagandist

Britain is a very small country with a very large press.

- David Hockney

Small, Country, Very, Press

But, I would always be thinking of how pictures are constructed and colour, how to use it, I mean you're using it for constructing, makes you think about it, the place did as well.

- David Hockney

Think, Always, Using, Constructing

Anyway I feel myself a bit on the edge on the art world, but I don't mind, I'm just pursuing my work in a very excited way. And there isn't really a mainstream anymore, is there?

- David Hockney

Art, Mind, Very, Mainstream

I haven't stopped painting or drawing - I've just added another medium.

- David Hockney

Painting, Stopped, Added, Medium

I think the Enlightenment is leading us into a dark hole, really.

- David Hockney

Think, I Think, Hole

The moment you cheat for the sake of beauty, you know you're an artist.

- David Hockney

Beauty, Art, Cheat, Sake

Anything simple always interests me.

- David Hockney

Simple, Me, Always, Interests

Cubism was an attack on the perspective that had been known and used for 500 years. It was the first big, big change. It confused people: they said, 'Things don't look like that!'

- David Hockney

Big, Been, Big Change, Attack

I'm interested in all kinds of pictures, however they are made, with cameras, with paint brushes, with computers, with anything.

- David Hockney

Paint, Made, However, Cameras

All painters are interested in photography to a certain extent.

- David Hockney

Extent, Certain Extent, Painters

I was aware that the teaching of drawing was being stopped almost 30 years ago. And I always said, 'The teaching of drawing is the teaching of looking.' A lot of people don't look very hard.

- David Hockney

Always, Very, Stopped, Years Ago

I'm not antisocial. I like people.

- David Hockney

People, Like, Antisocial

We live in an age where the artist is forgotten. He is a researcher. I see myself that way.

- David Hockney

Artist, See, Researcher, Forgotten

I'm a bit claustrophobic, I don't like crowds, I live by the sea - that's what I see when I come out of my house in Bridlington.

- David Hockney

Like, I See, Claustrophobic, Crowds

A belief is like a guillotine, just as heavy, just as light.

- David Hockney

Light, Belief, Like, Heavy

I'm a bit claustrophobic, I know that now.

- David Hockney

Know, Now, Bit, Claustrophobic

I generally only paint people I know, I'm not a flatterer really.

- David Hockney

Paint, Only, Flatterer, Generally

There are enough no smoking places now.

- David Hockney

Enough, Places, Now, Smoking

I think my father would have liked to have been an artist, actually. But I think he didn't quite have perhaps the drive or, I don't know, I mean he had a family to bring up I suppose.

- David Hockney

Think, Been, I Think, Suppose

Always live in the ugliest house on the street - then you don't have to look at it.

- David Hockney

Street, Always, Then, Ugliest

I grew up in austerity in the 1940s and 1950s.

- David Hockney

1940s, Up, Austerity, 1950s

The photograph isn't good enough. It's not real enough.

- David Hockney

Good, Enough, Real, Photograph

I mean if you draw you like drawing, it's er, an activity you do all the time actually.

- David Hockney

Activity, Like, Actually, Draw

Drawing is rather like playing chess: your mind races ahead of the moves that you eventually make.

- David Hockney

Mind, Chess, Rather, Moves

I've always wanted to be able to paint the dawn.

- David Hockney

Always, Able, Wanted, Paint

I paint what I like, when I like and where I like.

- David Hockney

Like, Where, Paint

Of course you can still paint landscape - it's not been worn out.

- David Hockney

Been, Still, Worn, Paint

I go and see anything that's visually new, any technology that's about picture-making. The technology won't make the pictures different, but someone using it will.

- David Hockney

New, Will, Using, Pictures

Enjoyment of the landscape is a thrill.

- David Hockney

Landscape, Enjoyment, Thrill

I've realized that I can do performances.

- David Hockney

Realized, I Can, Performance

What I didn't know was I was deeply attracted to the big space.

- David Hockney

Art, Big, Know, Attracted

It's no good saying I wished I could go out more, because I can't. But I don't bother about it too much.

- David Hockney

More, Bother, Could, Wished

Tragedy is a literary concept.

- David Hockney

Concept, Literary, Tragedy

Well you can't teach the poetry, but you can teach the craft.

- David Hockney

Teach, You, Well, Craft

California is always in my mind.

- David Hockney

Mind, Always, California

In fact, most artists want to make things a bit more difficult for themselves as they go along, to challenge themselves.

- David Hockney

Fact, Want, More, In Fact

Who would have thought that the telephone would bring back drawing?

- David Hockney

Thought, Bring, Would, Telephone

Like people, trees are all individuals.

- David Hockney

People, Trees, Like, Individuals

Ultimately, I'm about liberty and I think you have to defend it.

- David Hockney

Liberty, Think, I Think, Ultimately

I've always felt very English.

- David Hockney

Always, Very, Felt, English

Spring is very energising to me.

- David Hockney

Me, Very, Spring

Art has to move you and design does not, unless it's a good design for a bus.

- David Hockney

Art, Move, Unless, Bus

I do do a lot of talking, because it saves me listening.

- David Hockney

Listening, Me, Lot, Saves

My only worry is the painting I'm doing. Nothing else.

- David Hockney

Worry, Doing, Else, Painting

Easel painting means small painting.

- David Hockney

Small, Means, Painting

The moment rules over everything.

- David Hockney

Moment, Everything, Over, Rules

I think I am seeing more clearly now than ever.

- David Hockney

Think, I Think, Ever, Seeing

Most artists work all the time, they do actually, especially good artists, they work all the time, what else is there to do? I mean you do.

- David Hockney

Work, Good, Most, Good Artists

The moment I got a very big studio, everything took off.

- David Hockney

Big, Very, Took, Studio

It is very good advice to believe only what an artist does, rather than what he says about his work.

- David Hockney

Advice, Rather, Very, Artist

Listening is a positive act: you have to put yourself out to do it.

- David Hockney

Positive, Yourself, Act, Listening

Well, in Bradford I could say I was brought up in Bradford and Hollywood.

- David Hockney

Well, Could, Brought, Hollywood

I value my friends.

- David Hockney

Friends, Value

I prefer living in color.

- David Hockney

Color, Prefer, Living

In my old age, I'll be in L.A.

- David Hockney

Age, Old, Old Age

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