A biography for David Hockneyhasn’t been written yet.
“I think Picasso was, without doubt, the greatest portraitist of the 20th century, if not any other century.”
“I'm not antisocial. I like people.”
“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.”
“A lot of people, given the chance, would blow up everything, and you and me.”
“I mean if you draw you like drawing, it's er, an activity you do all the time actually.”
“I'm not going to stop painting just to take orders.”
“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.”
“Art has to move you and design does not, unless it's a good design for a bus.”
“Ultimately, I'm about liberty and I think you have to defend it.”
“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.”
“I draw flowers every day and send them to my friends so they get fresh blooms every morning.”
“People criticized me for my photography. They said it's not art.”
“I've realized that I can do performances.”
“Smoking calms me down. It's enjoyable. I don't want politicians deciding what is exciting in my life.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“What I didn't know was I was deeply attracted to the big space.”
“I prefer living in color.”
“I'm not really looking for theater work. But if somebody approaches me with enthusiasm, I might respond.”