David Hockney: Bradford's artistic genius who painted the things he loved

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. David Hockney: Bradford's artistic genius who painted the things he loved6 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleSam WoodhouseGetty ImagesDavid Hockney, who has died aged 88, was Britain's favourite artist - and a man of trenchant views, expressed in the broadest of Yorkshire vowels. A genius in practically every medium, he worked with paint, photographs and iPads. He did etchings, lithographs, even stained glass windows - equally at home working with the grandeur of opera design and the intimacy of pen and ink.

A peroxide Bradford blond with round glasses and cheese-cutter hat, he set the art world alight in the 1960s, and packed out art galleries more than half a century later. In 2018, one of his swimming pool paintings sold for nearly £70 million at auction - a record for a living artist. But Hockney was surprised at the public enthusiasm for his work.

The Details

He had simply followed one rule: "Paint the things you love". Getty ImagesDavid Hockney's Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) on sale at Christie's in November 2018David Hockney was born on 9 July 1937. His father, Kenneth, was a conscientious objector who detested social injustice, nuclear weapons and smoking in equal measure.

His mother, Laura, was the backbone of the family: strong-willed and devoutly Methodist. David was one five children; a tight-knit, loving unit jammed into a tiny terrace in Bradford. During bombing raids, they hid under the stairs clutching bibles.

In 1940, one explosion flattened the street. He was single-minded and devoted to drawing. The wartime shortage of paper restricted his early efforts to the kitchen floor and hymn books in church.

What Experts Say

Getty ImagesHockney, pictured at work in the 1960s, spent long hours in the studio and was often haunted by the feeling that he wasn't getting enough doneLater, as a scholarship boy at Bradford Grammar, he refused to do any subject but Art. "I am no good at science but I can draw," Hockney wrote in one exam. He was popular, funny and the despair of his teachers.

"He should realise that enthusiasm for Art alone is not enough to make a career," said a tutor's misguided report. At 16, he was allowed to go to art school, arriving in pinstriped suit and bowler hat. Hockney's appearance may have been flamboyant but his work ethic was Protestant.

For 12 hours a day, he worked furiously at his easel. Getty ImagesDavid Hockney making a print in 1965National Service was spent, like his father, as a conscientious objector. It meant miserable hours washing bodies in a morgue.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.