Remembering revolutionary painter David Hockney and his artistic legacy

Transcript

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Amna Nawaz: And British artist and painter David Hockney, one of the most celebrated art icons of the 20th and 21st centuries, died yesterday, just one month short of his 89th birthday. Jeffrey Brown has a look at his life and legacy.

Jeffrey Brown: A moment frozen in time, a bigger splash, an iconic David Hockney painting, vivid, alive, and deceptively simple, yet capturing a whole story.

Born in Bradford, England, in 1937, Hockney was an art star from his 20s, first as part of the London art scene.

David Hockney, Artist: I’m interested in ways of looking. Of course, people will respond. Everybody does look. It’s just a question of how hard.

Jeffrey Brown: He was known for bucking art world trends, not just painting at a time when more conceptual art ruled, but painting the human figure. His move to Los Angeles led to works that would come to define 1960s and ’70s Southern California.

David Hockney: It was really three times better than I thought.

Jeffrey Brown: And also openly portray gay life and subjects. Coming from an England where homosexuality was still illegal, Hockney found in L.A. both artistic inspiration and personal freedom.

For more than six decades, he helped redefine what painting could be, as his work was exhibited regularly worldwide. He returned throughout his career to portraiture, painting friends, loved ones, and himself.

When we met at his L.A. studio in 2018, he spoke of his fascination with the human face.

David Hockney: How can you see in them? How can you really see a person? I mean, I’m looking at you now, thinking of it. And I think, well, how would I know if I’d got you really well, when I did not really know you?

Jeffrey Brown: Hockney also embraced emerging technologies throughout his career, from photography to digital drawings on iPhones and iPads. Yet he remained one of painting’s most passionate defenders.

David Hockney: I know the arguments about painting is dead, but painting can’t die, because photography is not good enough, actually. It’s not good enough.

Jeffrey Brown: It’s not good enough.

David Hockney: No, it’s just a snap. But, I mean, why not look longer? And you will maybe see more.

Jeffrey Brown: His death comes less than a year after the close of a major retrospective at the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris.

You clearly like the fact that you’re doing something that has been done for a long, long time.

(Laughter)

David Hockney: Well, what is new, really new? Is there anything new under the sun? I mean, I love painting, I love it. I have lots more to do.

Jeffrey Brown: And he did until the very end. David Hockney died Thursday at his home in London. He was 88 years old.

For the “PBS News Hour,” I’m Jeffrey Brown.