A collection of legendary British artist David Hockney’s insights into art, life, nature, creativity and much more.

‘I’ve always been a looker ... that’s what artists do’

This anthology of quotations by David Hockney follows in the successful format of ‘The World According to’ series. Ranging across topics including drawing, photography, nature, creativity, the internet and much more, The World According to David Hockney offers a delightful and engaging overview of the artist’s inimitable spirit, personality and opinions.

From everyday observations – ‘The eye is always moving; if it isn’t moving you are dead’ – to artistic insights such as ‘painted colour always will be better than printed colour, because it is the pigment itself’, as well as musings on other image makers, including Caravaggio, Cézanne and Hokusai, Hockney has a knack for capturing profound truths in pithy statements.

Born in Bradford, England, in 1937, Hockney attended art school in London before moving to Los Angeles in the 1960s. There, he painted his famous swimming pool paintings, and since then has embraced a range of media including photocollage, video and digital technologies. In a 2011 poll of more than 1,000 British artists, Hockney was voted the most influential British artist of all time.

Presented as a beautifully designed and attractive package, illustrated with works of art from throughout Hockney's career, this is the perfect gift for art lovers everywhere.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'A burst of springtime joy' Daily Telegraph 'A springboard for ideas about art, space, time and light' The Times 'Lavishly illustrated' Guardian David Hockney reflects upon life and art as he experiences lockdown in rural Normandy On turning eighty, David Hockney sought out rustic tranquility for the first time: a place to watch the sunset and the change of the seasons; a place to keep the madness of the world at bay. So when Covid-19 and lockdown struck, it made little difference to life at La Grande Cour, the centuries-old Normandy farmhouse where Hockney set up a studio a year before, in time to paint the arrival of spring. In fact, he relished the enforced isolation as an opportunity for even greater devotion to his art. Spring Cannot be Cancelled is an uplifting manifesto that affirms art's capacity to divert and inspire. It is based on a wealth of new conversations and correspondence between Hockney and the art critic Martin Gayford, his long-time friend and collaborator. Their exchanges are illustrated by a selection of Hockney's new, unpublished Normandy iPad drawings and paintings alongside works by van Gogh, Monet, Bruegel, and others. We see how Hockney is propelled ever forward by his infectious enthusiasms and sense of wonder. A lifelong contrarian, he has been in the public eye for sixty years yet remains entirely unconcerned by the view of critics or even history. He is utterly absorbed by his four acres of northern France and by the themes that have fascinated him for decades: light, colour, space, perception, water, trees. He has much to teach us, not only about how to see... but about how to live.

At the beginning of 2020, just as global Covid-19 restrictions were coming into force, the artist David Hockney was at his house, studio and garden in Normandy. From there, he witnessed the arrival of spring, and recorded the blossoming of the surrounding landscape on his iPad, a medium he has been using for over a decade. Working outdoors was an antidote to the anxiety of the moment for Hockney – 'We need art, and I do think it can relieve stress,' he says. This uplifting publication – produced to accompany a major exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts – includes 116 of his new iPad paintings and shows to full effect Hockney's singular skill in capturing the exuberance of nature.

'I won't read a more interesting book all year... utterly fascinating' A. N. Wilson, Sunday Times 'Enormously good-humoured and entertaining... Hockney asks big questions about the nature of picture-making and the relationship between painters and photography in a way that no other contemporary artists seems to.' Andrew Marr, New Statesman A new, compact edition of David Hockney and Martin Gayford's brilliantly original book, with a revised final chapter and three entirely new Hockney artworks Informed and energized by a lifetime of painting, drawing and making images with cameras, David Hockney, in collaboration with the art critic Martin Gayford, explores how and why pictures have been made across the millennia. What makes marks on a flat surface interesting? How do you show movement in a still picture, and how, conversely, do films and television connect with old masters? Juxtaposing a rich variety of images - a still from a Disney cartoon with a Japanese woodblock print by Hiroshige, a scene from an Eisenstein film with a Velazquez painting - the authors cross the normal boundaries between high culture and popular entertainment, and make unexpected connections across time and media. Building on Hockney's groundbreaking book Secret Knowledge, they argue that film, photography, painting and drawing are deeply interconnected. Insightful and thought provoking, A History of Pictures is an important contribution to our appreciation of how we represent our reality. This new edition has a revised final chapter with some of Hockney's latest works, including the stained-glass window in Westminster Abbey.

Winner of the prestigious BolognaRagazzi New Horizons Award 2019 A History of Pictures for Children takes readers on a journey through art history, from early art drawn on cave walls to the images we make today on our computers and phone cameras. Based on the bestselling book for adults, this children's edition of A History of Pictures is told through conversations between the artist David Hockney and the author Martin Gayford, who talk about art with inspiring simplicity and clarity. Rose Blake's illustrations illuminate the narratives of both authors to bring the history of art alive for a young audience.

When David Hockney discovered the iPhone as an artistic medium, it opened up entirely new possibilities for his art. He made his first digital drawings in spring 2009, describing the morning landscape in broad lines and dazzling colors directly on a display that offered subtle hues as unmixed expressions of pure light. Then in 2010, Hockney started working with an iPad, and the larger screen expanded his artistic repertoire and enabled an even more complex interplay of color, light, and line. Each image in this book captures a fleeting moment seen through a window in Hockney's Yorkshire home: from vibrant sunrise and lilac morning sky to peaceful night-time impressions or the sudden arrival of spring. Fascinating details reveal drops on window panes, distant lights in the night, reflections on vases or an abundance of varied window-sill vegetation. In 120 drawings made between 2009 and 2012, selected and arranged by the artist himself, we experience the passage of time through the eyes of David Hockney. This artist's book, which first appeared in an exclusive signed edition, now returns as an unlimited run, whose still generous XL format presents Hockney's impressions in brilliant resolution. So now is the perfect occasion to heed the advice of the Times critic regarding this book: "If you would like to be given a bouquet by David Hockney, here is your chance."

Pop artist, painter of modern life, landscape painter, master of color, explorer of image and perception-for six decades, David Hockney has been known as an artist who always finds new ways of exploring the world and its representational possibilities. He has consistently created unforgettable images: works with graphic lines and integrated text in the Swinging Sixties in London; the famous swimming pool series as a representation of the 1970s California lifestyle; closely observed portraits and brightly colored, oversized landscapes after his eventual return to his native Yorkshire. In addition to drawings in which he transfers what he sees directly onto paper, there are multiperspective Polaroid collages that open up the space into a myriad of detailed views, and iPad drawings in which he captures light using a most modern medium-testaments to Hockney's enduring delight in experimentation. This special edition has been newly assembled from the two volumes of the David Hockney: A Bigger Book monograph to celebrate TASCHEN's 40th anniversary. Hockney's life and work is presented year by year as a dialogue between his works and voices from the time period, alongside reviews and reflections by the artist in a chronological text, supplemented by portrait photographs and exhibition views. Together they open up new perspectives, page after page, revealing how Hockney undertakes his artistic research, how his painting develops, and where he finds inspiration for his multifaceted work. About the series TASCHEN is 40! Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible publishing, helping bookworms around the world curate their own library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia at an unbeatable price. Today we celebrate 40 years of incredible books by staying true to our company credo. The 40 series presents new editions of some of the stars of our program-now more compact, friendly in price, and still realized with the same commitment to impeccable production.

The fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm according to David Hockney are like no other version you will have read before. Although inspired by earlier illustrators of the tales, from Arthur Rackham to Edmund Dulac, Hockney's extraordinary etchings re-imagine these strange and supernatural stories for a modern audience, capturing their distinctive atmosphere in a style that is recognisably the artist's own. Reprinted for the first time since its original publication in 1969, Hockney's book brings together some well-known tales - Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin - with others that are less familiar. Informed by great art of the past, attuned to idiosyncrasies of character and incident, and fresh in execution and content, his illustrations invite us to read each one as if for the first time.

Secret Knowledge created an international sensation when it was published in 2001. Now, Hockney takes his controversial thesis - that some of the masterpieces of Western art were created using optical devices - even further in light of new and exciting discoveries. In 32 new pages, he demonstrates how Renaissance artists used mirrors and lenses to help them develop chiaroscuro, perspective, and the arts of depicting three-dimensional space and forms. Stunning in its presentation and wide-ranging in its implications, Secret Knowledge remains the art book sensation of the new century.

A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'We have lost touch with nature, rather foolishly as we are a part of it, not outside it. This will in time be over and then what? What have we learned?... The only real things in life are food and love, in that order, just like [for] our little dog Ruby... and the source of art is love. I love life.' DAVID HOCKNEY Praise for Spring Cannot be Cancelled: 'This book is not so much a celebration of spring as a springboard for ideas about art, space, time and light. It is scholarly, thoughtful and provoking' The Times 'Lavishly illustrated... Gayford is a thoughtfully attentive critic with a capacious frame of reference' Guardian 'Hockney and Gayford's exchanges are infused with their deep knowledge of the history of art ... This is a charming book, and ideal for lockdown because it teaches you to look harder at the things around you' Lynn Barber,The Spectator 'Designed to underscore [Hockney's] original message of hope, and to further explore how art can gladden and invigorate ... meanders amiably from Rembrandt, to the pleasure principle, andouillette sausages and, naturally, to spring' Daily Telegraph On turning eighty, David Hockney sought out rustic tranquillity for the first time: a place to watch the sunset and the change of the seasons; a place to keep the madness of the world at bay. So when Covid-19 and lockdown struck, it made little difference to life at La Grande Cour, the centuries-old Normandy farmhouse where Hockney set up a studio a year before, in time to paint the arrival of spring. In fact, he relished the enforced isolation as an opportunity for even greater devotion to his art. Spring Cannot be Cancelled is an uplifting manifesto that affirms art's capacity to divert and inspire. It is based on a wealth of new conversations and correspondence between Hockney and the art critic Martin Gayford, his long-time friend and collaborator. Their exchanges are illustrated by a selection of Hockney's new, unpublished Normandy iPad drawings and paintings alongside works by van Gogh, Monet, Bruegel, and others. We see how Hockney is propelled ever forward by his infectious enthusiasms and sense of wonder. A lifelong contrarian, he has been in the public eye for sixty years, yet remains entirely unconcerned by the view of critics or even history. He is utterly absorbed by his four acres of northern France and by the themes that have fascinated him for decades: light, colour, space, perception, water, trees. He has much to teach us, not only about how to see... but about how to live. With 142 illustrations in colour

David Hockney introduces his two dachshunds, Stanley and Boodgie, in this delightful new book. The result of both sharp observation and affection, these paintings and drawings are lyrical studies in form and color. A text by the artist himself gives a behind-the-scenes glimpse of how to work with models who don't necessarily want to sit still. Hockney has provided additional drawings made specially on the page, and has been largely involved in the layout of the book, creating a charming and unified whole.

Remember fifty years ago when everyone smoked? Since tobacco found its way into Europe in the sixteenth century, smoking has been a controversial issue. Fifty years ago, almost everyone smoked, and fifty years before that, smokers were in the doghouse; up until the early twentieth century, cigarettes were illegal in a number of U.S. states. Needless to say, smoking has always been a ready source of revenue. It has also been a source of health concerns, both real and imagined. This mixture of pleasure, money and risk that comes with the act of smoking means that it's rarely treated fairly by politicians, health professionals or the public. Nowadays, tough anti-smoking laws are to be obeyed in most corners of the globe. The misinformation about, and unreasoning hostility directed at, smoking and smokers is one of the major concerns of this book. After all, smoking has no public cost. Isn't it just the individual smokers who are at risk? Prompted by this burgeoning fascination, Staddon looks further into the facts. And the more he looks, the weaker the case against smoking as a public health issue becomes. Is ETS really dangerous to children? And if so, how can science prove it? And if smoking has no public cost and the medical case for third-party harm is weak, why are smokers still being victimised? In this provocative, thought-provoking book, Staddon is determined to uncover the truth about smoking. But the truth's not always pretty.

David Hockney is one of the greatest draughtsmen of all time, and his drawings of the 1960s and 1970s are among his finest works. This selection of 41 drawings, both well-known and unfamiliar, demonstrates how his love of life is expressed through his extraordinary ability to closely observe and translate into art the world around him. Friends, places and inanimate objects are all depicted with insight and energy.

In recent years David Hockney has returned to England to paint the landscape of his childhood in East Yorkshire. Although his passionate interest in new technologies has led him to develop a virtuoso drawing technique on an iPad, he has also been accompanied outdoors by the traditional sketchbook, an invaluable tool as he works quickly to capture the changing light and fleeting effects of the weather. Executed in watercolour and ink, these panoramic scenes have the spatial complexity of finished paintings - the broad sweep of sky or road, the patchwork tapestry of land - yet convey the immediacy of Hockney's impressions. And as in the views down village streets and across kitchen tables that appear alongside them, his rooted and fond knowledge of the area around the East Yorkshire Wolds is always clear. If you know the region, the location of the sketches is unmistakable; if you don't, its features will come to life in these pages.

The making of pictures has a history going back perhaps 100,000 years to an African shell used as a paint palette. Two-thirds of it is irrevocably lost, since the earliest images known to us are from about 40,000 years ago. But what a 40,000 years, explored here by David Hockney and Martin Gayford in a brilliantly original book. They privilege no medium, or period, or style, but instead, in 16 chapters, discuss how and why pictures have been made, and insistently link `art' to human skills and human needs. Each chapter addresses an important question: What happens when we try to express reality in two dimensions? Why is the `Mona Lisa' beautiful and why are shadows so rarely found in Chinese, Japanese and Persian painting? Why are optical projections always going to be more beautiful than HD television can ever be? How have the makers of images depicted movement? What makes marks on a flat surface interesting? Energized by two lifetimes of looking at pictures, combined with a great artist's 70-year experience of experimentation as he makes them, this profoundly moving and enlightening volume will be the art book of the decade.

This much acclaimed book, newly available in paperback, is the definitive retrospective of the most popular serious artist in the world today. Covering all media over almost fifty years, and presented thematically to show the evolution and diversity of Hockney's prolific paintings, drawings, watercolours, prints and photography, it also features quotes from the artist himself that illuminate the passionate thinking behind his work. Its huge international success confirms and reinforces Hockney's position as the world's most popular living artist.

David Hockneyas controversial book, now revised in paperback with thirty-two new pages of evidence
Join one of the most influential artists of our time as he investigates the painting techniques of the Old Masters. Hockneyas extensive research led him to conclude that artists such as Caravaggio, VelAzquez, da Vinci, and other hyperrealists actually used optics and lenses to create their masterpieces.

In this passionate yet pithy book, Hockney takes readers on a journey of discovery as he builds a case that mirrors and lenses were used by the great masters to create their highly detailed and realistic paintings and drawings. Hundreds of the best-known and best-loved paintings are reproduced alongside his straightforward analysis. Hockney also includes his own photographs and drawings to illustrate techniques used to capture such accurate likenesses. Extracts from historical and modern documents and correspondence with experts from around the world further illuminate this thought-provoking book that will forever change how the world looks at art.

"Secret Knowledge" will open your eyes to how we perceive the world and how we choose to represent it.

Artist & Writer Jonathon Brown combines unique deft sketches from bars & cafes around the world with a witty account of how to entertain at home, what to get right and how to cook what to cook