David Hockney: The Artist and His Bigger Book

Hockney was in his early 20s when he first emerged into the art scene at the start of the 1960s. During this time, the style of British pop art, which took inspiration from popular and commercial culture, was flourishing. Hockney studied at the Bradford College of Art, where his teachers included Frank Lisle. While Hockney was studying, he said he felt at home and took pride in the work he put out. Hockney’s art showcases vibrant colorism, using his iconic shades of blues, pinks, yellows, and greens. In 1964, Hockney moved to Los Angeles to further pursue his career. This is where he painted his famous series of swimming pool images.

Hockney has always taken inspiration from the world around him, and his art is greatly affected by the place that he exists at the time. Much of his portfolio reflects images that can be observed in London, Paris, Los Angeles, and Yorkshire. Hockney has explained in interviews that he is interested in the aspects of perspective. He states that he uses perspective in an isometric way; toying with it and creating art in ways that reflect various areas of perspective. He believes that there’s an elasticity to space and time, and he likes to play with that idea.

Hockney’s “A Bigger Book” was published through TASCHEN in 2016, and it features 60 years of work back to his days as a teenager at the Bradford School of Art all the way through recent series of portraits, iPad drawings, and Yorkshire landscapes. It includes a combination of more than 450 drawings, graphic works, portrait photos, and text based on writing by Hockney himself. Hockney was present at every stage of publication, meaning every work that’s featured in “A Bigger Book” was hand-picked and approved by the artist himself. Hockney considers himself to be an artist that doesn’t look back or live in the past, so this book is just as much a personal review as it is a record of his works.

Mr. Marin has purchased two of Hockney’s limited edition “sumo” publications of “A Bigger Book,” one for the archives, and one where we delicately removed selected pieces and artfully mounted them with archival mats to be sent out and shared with you. We at Mr. Marin are honored to offer special periodic drops from this collection. Due to the limited nature of these pages, once a piece has been sold, it cannot be restocked.