Childhood: Hockney's father, Kenneth Hockney, ran an accountancy business in Bradford. Kenneth Hockney was a talented amateur artist, he was also a campaigner and wrote to world leaders including Stalin. Kenneth Hockney died in 1978 aged 74. David Hockney's mother, Laura, was born in Bradford in 1900, and initially worked as a shop assistant. She was an inspiration for his art and was the subject of many of his portraits throughout her life until she died in 1999 aged 98. He had three brothers: John who moved to Australia and became a graphic artist and exhibition designer, Philip who also moved to Australia and who built up a successful business based on the manufacture and design of large trucks, and Paul who was once a Liberal Democratic councillor in Bradford's suburb of Idle and became Lord Mayor of Bradford, and who set up his own accountancy business through which he was David's accountant. He also had a sister Margaret who worked as a nurse around the world and then set up her own clinic of natural medicine in Bridlington, Yorkshire.

Education: David Hockney has never hidden his gayness, and was even out at school. He studied at Bradford College of Art from 1953 to 1957 and did his military service as a conscientious objector and worked in a hospital from 1957 to 1958. He then studied at the Royal College of Art, London from 1959 to 1962 and graduated from the Royal College of Art as gold medal-winner in 1962. Hockney became famous for his white hair, gold lamé jacket and black-framed owl glasses.

Work: Hockney travelled to New York in 1961 and became an instructor at Maidstone College of Art in 1962.
In 1963 he had his first one-man show in London. In 1964 he moved to California and started his sun-drenched "swimming-pool" pictures. Hockney became an instructor at the University of Iowa, Ames in 1964, and at the University of Colorado, Berkeley in 1967.
In 1974 the British television documentary A Bigger Splash explored his breakup and subsequent friendship with artist Peter Schlesinger. Hockney accepted an invitation to become an RA in 1991.
In 1999 the Royal Academy in London displayed paintings by David Hockney in its summer exhibition. It was the first time a whole room had been devoted to one artist at the annual summer exhibition. His paintings of the Grand Canyon won the £26,000 Wollaston award for the best work at the show.
On 8th. June 2000 he was awarded an honorary doctorate of letters at Leeds University. The press was keen to note that he wore red corduroy slippers. This was his fourth honorary award.
He participated in the National Gallery exhibition Encounters: New Art from Old from 14th. June to 17th. September 2000. He was given Honorary Freedom of the City of Bradford on 21st. June, 2000.

Art: We 2 Boys Together Clinging, 1961. A Man Stood in Front of His House With Rain Descending, 1962. The Rake's Progress, (a series of etchings), 1963. The Sunbather, 1966. 14 Poems of C P Cavafy, (edited and illustrated). Six Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm, (a series of etchings), 1970. Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy, 1970-71. Portrait of an Artist (Pool With Two Figures), 1971. My Parents, 1977, at Tate Britain. Design for the opera Magic Flute at Glynebourne, 1978. Afternoon Swimming, 1980, lithograph in colours. The Studio March 28th 1996, (digital inkjet printing). Publications: David Hockney: My Early Years, (autobiography), 1977. David Hockney by David Hockney: My Early Years, 1988, with Nikos Stangos, Thames and Hudson, 312 pages, ISBN 0500275270 (paperback). That's the Way I See It, (autobiography), 1993. David Hockney's Dog Days, 1998, Thames and Hudson, 80 pages, ISBN 0500237301 (hardcover). Film Tonite Let's All Make Love in London, 1967, film role as himself, (also known as The London Scene, 1967). A Bigger Splash, 1974, film role as himself. Fire in the Water, 1977, film acting role. A Day on the Grand Canal with the Emporor of China or: Surface is Illusion But So Is Death, 1988, film role as himself. Superstar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol, 1991, film acting role. Behind the Scenes with David Hockney, 1992, film role as himself. Shotgun Freeway: Drives Through Lost L.A., 1995, film role as himself.

Friends & Relationships: Being, from the early sixties until now, one of Britain's most famous artists Hockney knows everyone including the world of opera since he has designed several operas for Glyndebourne. He had a long affair with Peter Schlesinger (who features in many of his paintings and drawings). Hockney has never lost the opportunity to take advantage of his friends and family in order to find models.
'The present government are a load of phillistines. And that's not surprising. What is surprising is that they are a lot more phillistine than the last lot.'

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