"David Hockney has proclaimed a higher ambition in his work: to compete with the history of art rather than with members of his own generation".
HOCKNEY, David [ed. STRANGOS, Nikos] David Hockney London, Thames and Hudson, 1976
8vo. Original green cloth bound boards with spine lettered in gilt, embossed with gilt device on front cover; Dust jacket illustrated with a photograph taken by Peter Schlesinger My Parents and Myself from September 1975; pp. 312; minor foxing to upper edge; otherwise near fine copy.
First Edition, signed by Hockney to title page
David Hockney (1937) has secured his place as one of the worlds most successful living artists. Written by Hockney himself, (relayed through twenty-five hours of taped conversations with editor Nikos Strangos), this 'life catalogue' not only offers ultimate documentation but also reproduces almost the entirity of Hockney's paintings, graphic work and drawings into one body (434 illustrations, 60 in colour). In chronological format, Hockney relays the story of his life, from his upbringing in Bradford to his introduction and obsession with California during which paintings such as A Bigger Splash became classic staples of modern art. In his introductory essay, Henry Geldzahler encapsulates why Hockney so captivates popular imagery, suggesting that the art is not so divorced from the personality, "The pictures are often distinctly autobiographical, confirming Hockney's place in the grand tradition of English eccentricity".
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