David Hockney (b. 1937)

Hockney studied at Bradford School of Art (1953-57) and, after a two-year gap working in hospitals as a conscientious objector rather than doing national service, at the Royal College of Art in London (1959-62). Contemporaries at the RCA included Patrick Caulfield, Allen Jones and R.B.Kitaj. On graduating in 1962 Hockney was awarded the gold medal for painting. He had his first one-man show at the Kasmin Gallery in 1963, won first prize at the 1967 John Moores exhibition, and had a retrospective show at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in London in 1970. He has been the subject of numerous exhibitions internationally ever since.

Hockney moved to California in 1963 and has been based there off and on ever since, though always retaining strong links with Bradford. As an artist he is prolific and versatile, producing paintings in oil, acrylic and watercolour, drawings and prints, and using photography, polaroids, faxes and computer-generated images in his work. Since the late 1970s Hockney has also been extensively involved in designing sets and costumes for opera productions in Britain and the United States, including Glyndebourne, Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, the Los Angeles Music Center and the Lyric Opera of Chicago.