David Hockney’s (born 1937 in Bradford, UK) incredibly prolific career spans more than six decades. Throughout his career, Hockney has experimented with countless mediums such as photography, collage, video and even digital art, including a pioneering use of iPads. Despite his unquenchable urge to experiment, Hockney always seems to return to two very familiar and traditional subjects, landscapes and portraits.
A widely known fact of Hockney’s portraits is that he only creates them of his family, friends, lovers and acquaintances. Whether it is after the end of a relationship or the scare of a great crisis such as the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, Hockney often returns to portraiture in times of great personal unrest. Despite the draw by more somber moments, his portraits can often portray the subject in a quick and whimsical fashion.