David Hockney

David Hockney born 9 July 1937

Born and educated in Bradford, Yorkshire, David Hockney studied at Bradford College of Art and the London College of Art, where with his contemporary, Peter Blake, he was one of the most significant stars of British Pop Art. In 1963, a visit to New York brought him into contact with Andy Warhol.

He has produced a series of paintings, portraits - mostly of his friends - prints, lithographs, photocollages, commissions and theatrical stage designs. He has also experimented with using computers and other technology to create art. Much of his work is representative of his life in his adopted home of California, especially his landscapes and pool pictures.

The film A Bigger Splash (1974) about Hockney and named after one of his most famous paintings, creates the definitive image of this distinctive Yorkshireman and his life and work up to that point.

Hockney, who has always been openly gay, is regarded as one of the greatest painters of the twentieth century and his best canvases now sell for millions. The distinctive style of his work - in whatever form it takes - and his trademark mop of blonde - now white - hair and round spectacles identify him as a unique and popular cultural figure.

In October 2006 the National Portrait Gallery in London organised one of the largest ever displays of Hockney's portraiture work. The collection consisted of his earliest self portraits up to his latest work completed in 2005. The exhibition proved to be one of the most successful in the gallery's history, and Hockney himself assisted in displaying the works.

His most recent work has seen Hockney undertaking a series of large-scale landscapes of his native Yorkshire.