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David Hockney: A Life

A portrait of an iconic English painter's journey

Catherine Cusset author Teresa Lavender Fagan translator

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Quercus Publishing

Published:12th Nov '20

Should be back in stock very soon

David Hockney: A Life cover

This engaging novel explores the life of David Hockney, detailing his artistic journey and personal struggles while celebrating his resilience.

With clear, vivid prose, David Hockney: A Life presents a meticulously researched narrative that intimately portrays one of the most renowned living English painters. Born in Bradford in 1937, David Hockney faced numerous challenges on his path to becoming an artist. His journey began at the Royal College of Art in London, where he flourished creatively but grappled with feelings of alienation due to his homosexuality and his preference for a figurative style that was often dismissed as outdated.

As Hockney embarked on trips to New York and California, he encountered new environments and relationships that would significantly influence his work. These experiences led to the creation of his iconic swimming pool paintings and marked the beginning of a transformative journey through the tumultuous years of the AIDS epidemic. The novel captures the essence of Hockney's artistic evolution while highlighting the personal struggles that shaped his identity and work.

David Hockney: A Life acts as a compelling blend of biography and fiction, offering readers an insightful overview of a painter whose art is both accessible and profound. Despite facing heartbreak, illness, and loss, Hockney's unwavering passion for creation shines through, making this book a celebration of resilience and artistic spirit.

Cusset's style oozes with delicacy, pointedness, and gusto. A perfect short exposé of Hockney's life as seen through the eyes of an admiring novelist. * Kirkus Reviews *
This book is a gem. A hybrid of biography and novelistic chiaroscuro in which Catherine Cusset, a widely translated French novelist, tells us "I have imagined feelings, thoughts, and dialogue -- Richard Cytowic * New York Journal *
Life of David Hockney feels almost as sunny as the poolside California that was the artist's longtime muse. Cusset never lets her intellectual digressions slow the tempo of her staccato prose. Hers is an affirming vision of a restless talent propelled by optimism and chance -- Ayten Tytici * New York Times *
Like Mr Hockney, Cusset mixes lush visuals with pervasive melancholy, and as her subject reaches belated maturity, her prose grows increasingly nuanced. By the book's end, the great painter feels fragile and accessible, both a legend and a fallible man * Economist *
What a breezy delight this book is! -- Brad Auerback * Entertainment Today *

ISBN: 9781911350804

Dimensions: 196mm x 128mm x 18mm

Weight: 200g

192 pages