The Biography Volume 2

Hockney

The final say on Britain's best-loved, most colourful and controversial artist: David Hockney.

The fully authorised biography of the late, great David Hockney. In this fascinating and entertaining second volume, discover the life and legacy of one of the greatest British artists of our time. 
Hockney's career spanned and helped to define the major art movements of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Volume 1 covered his early life: his precocious achievement at Bradford Art College and the Swinging Sixties in London, where he befriended many of the iconic cultural figures of the era. Picking up Hockney's story in 1975, this volume follows him between Notting Hill and California, where he found inspiration for his celebrated swimming-pool paintings; charts his acclaimed work designing opera sets around the world; and explores his embrace of emerging technologies, from photography and the fax machine in the 1970s and 80s to the iPad in later life. Hockney's boundless energy extended beyond his art, and this volume sheds light on the glamorous circles in which he moved, as well as his sometimes turbulent relationships. 
 
Drawing on unprecedented access to Hockney's paintings, notebooks, diaries and personal archives, this second volume continues the lively and revelatory account of an acclaimed artist whose extraordinary life and work left an enduring mark on British and international culture.

Christopher Simon Sykes grew up in East Yorkshire, and went on to become a photographer and writer. His work has appeared in Vogue, Vanity Fair, the Sunday Telegraph magazine and Architectural Digest among others, and he wrote and presented Upper Crust, a six-part series on country-house cookery for BBC Two. He has written six books, including The Big House and Country House Camera, photographed fourteen, including The Rolling Stones on Tour and The Garden at Buckingham Palace, and he co-wrote the autobiography of Eric Clapton. He is married with two children and a step-daughter, and lives in North London.

As seen in Drawing From Life exhibition at National Portrait Gallery, 2023 
 
In this fascinating and entertaining second volume, Christopher Sykes explores the life and work of Britain's most popular living artist. 
 
David Hockney's career has spanned and epitomised the art movements of the past five decades. Volume 1 covered his early life: his precocious achievement at Bradford Art College and the Swinging 60s in London, where he befriended many of the iconic cultural figures of the generation. Picking up Hockney's story in 1975, this volume finds him flitting between Notting Hill and California, where he took inspiration for the swimming pool series of paintings; creating the acclaimed set designs for operas around the world; and embracing emerging technologies – the camera and fax machine in the 1970s and 80s, and most recently the iPad. Hockney's boundless energy extends to his personal life too, and this volume illuminates the glamorous circles he moved in, as well as his sometimes turbulent relationships. 
 
With unprecedented access to Hockney's paintings, notebooks, diaries and the man himself, this second volume continues the lively and revelatory account of an acclaimed artist and an extraordinary man.

Christopher Simon Sykes

The Biography Volume 1

The astounding first volume, exploring the fascinating world of the most popular living artist in Britain today. 
 
As seen in Drawing From Life exhibition at National Portrait Gallery, 2023 
 
David Hockney's career has spanned and epitomised the art movements of the last five decades. His story is one of precocious achievement at Bradford Art College, the Swinging 60s in London where he befriended many of the iconic cultural figures of the generation, to California and the cool of the swimming pool series of paintings, through the acclaimed set designs for countless operas around the world and major retrospective exhibitions at The Tate and The Royal Academy of Art. 
 
With unprecedented access to interviews, family and friends and Hockney's own notebooks and paintings, this volume will deliver an honest and revelatory account of the man who many believe to be Britain's greatest living artist.

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