HOCKNEY, David; Niklos STANGOS (editor). David Hockney. London: Thames and Hudson. 1976.
Folio. Original green cloth, spine lettered in gilt, gilt device to upper cover; pictorial dust jacket featuring Peter Schlesinger’s photograph My Parents and Myself (September 1975); pp. 312; slight foxing to top edge, otherwise a near-fine copy.
First edition, signed by Hockney on the title page.
David Hockney (b. 1937) is widely regarded as one of the most influential and successful living artists. Written by Hockney himself after twenty-five hours of taped conversations with the editor Nikos Stangos, this “life catalogue” offers both an intimate autobiography and a comprehensive survey of his work, reproducing nearly all of his paintings, prints, and drawings (434 illustrations, including 60 in colour).
Structured chronologically, the book traces Hockney’s journey from his childhood in Bradford to his discovery and love affair with California, where works such as A Bigger Splash became icons of modern art. In his introductory essay, Henry Geldzahler captures Hockney’s enduring appeal, observing that his art is inseparable from his personality: “The pictures are often distinctly autobiographical, confirming Hockney’s place in the grand tradition of English eccentricity”.
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