David HOCKNEY (born in 1937)
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : UK II Groups Landscape
Chronology : 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970-1979 1971 1972 1980 1990 2009
See also : UK II Groups Landscape
Chronology : 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970-1979 1971 1972 1980 1990 2009
David Hockney (b. 1937) projects a public persona of boundless optimism, cheeky wit, relentless curiosity, and joyful productivity that stands in vivid contrast to the more detached coolness of contemporaries like Ed Ruscha. As with any psychological profile based on public sources, this remains speculative and non-clinical—drawn from interviews, biographies, self-portraits, and critical observations. Hockney has never presented as a tormented artist; instead, he embodies resilience, adaptability, and a life-affirming drive.
Core Traits: Optimism, Curiosity, and Playful Openness
Hockney consistently describes himself as an optimist by nature. He has said, “What’s the opposite? Gloom, doom? Why would anyone want that?” His work—vibrant pools, luminous iPad drawings, and expansive landscapes—radiates this positivity, celebrating light, space, friendship, and the beauty of looking closely at the world.
This aligns with high openness to experience (Big Five personality model): he embraces new technologies (Polaroid joiners, Xerox, iPad) not as gimmicks but as genuine extensions of seeing. He declared at age 11 that he wanted to be an artist and, at nearly 89, continues with the same restless energy. He calls painting “a way of thinking” and an “extension of your brain,” reflecting intellectual playfulness and a childlike wonder that persists into old age.
Hockney’s extraversion and sociability shine through: flamboyant bleached hair and glasses in his youth, open gay identity since his early 20s (at a time when it was illegal in Britain), and deep friendships documented in tender portraits. He is described as a bon vivant with cheeky wit (“Just because I’m cheeky, doesn’t mean I’m not serious”).
Resilience, Adaptation, and Sensory Compensation
Hockney has been progressively deaf since the 1970s (using hearing aids since 1979). Far from seeing it as purely limiting, he frames it positively: “Going deaf has sharpened my art... If you can’t hear, you somehow see [space] clearer.” He believes losing one sense heightens others, enhancing his perception of perspective and space.
This reflects strong psychological resilience and cognitive reframing—turning potential isolation into creative advantage. In the mid-1980s, amid middle age, deafness-related isolation, and losses from AIDS among friends, he produced intense self-portraits revealing vulnerability. These show a capacity for introspection and emotional processing without descending into prolonged gloom.
Work Ethic, Identity, and Emotional Depth
Hockney is famously prolific and disciplined. He carries a sketchbook everywhere and has noted that when painting he feels thirty years old. This suggests high conscientiousness and intrinsic motivation rooted in joy rather than external validation.
His early works openly explored homoeroticism and personal relationships (e.g., with Peter Schlesinger), reflecting courage and authenticity in an era of stigma. Self-portraits across decades reveal evolving self-awareness—probing identity, aging, and perception—indicating a psychologically fluid and reflective inner life.
Potential “shadows” appear mild: occasional melancholic undertones in mid-career works and the natural grief of losses, but these fuel rather than derail his output. He shows little evidence of high neuroticism; instead, he maintains equanimity and forward momentum.
In summary, Hockney exemplifies a psychologically robust, optimistic, and curious creative temperament—high in openness, resilience, and positive affect. His deafness, personal losses, and cultural shifts become grist for deeper seeing rather than obstacles. Contrasting Ruscha’s cool detachment, Hockney’s approach is sensual, relational, and life-celebrating: he invites us to look longer and more joyfully at the world. This mindset has sustained one of the longest and most innovative careers in modern art, making him a model of creative vitality well into later life. As always, the artist himself prefers the work—and the act of looking—to any psychological label.
Core Traits: Optimism, Curiosity, and Playful Openness
Hockney consistently describes himself as an optimist by nature. He has said, “What’s the opposite? Gloom, doom? Why would anyone want that?” His work—vibrant pools, luminous iPad drawings, and expansive landscapes—radiates this positivity, celebrating light, space, friendship, and the beauty of looking closely at the world.
This aligns with high openness to experience (Big Five personality model): he embraces new technologies (Polaroid joiners, Xerox, iPad) not as gimmicks but as genuine extensions of seeing. He declared at age 11 that he wanted to be an artist and, at nearly 89, continues with the same restless energy. He calls painting “a way of thinking” and an “extension of your brain,” reflecting intellectual playfulness and a childlike wonder that persists into old age.
Hockney’s extraversion and sociability shine through: flamboyant bleached hair and glasses in his youth, open gay identity since his early 20s (at a time when it was illegal in Britain), and deep friendships documented in tender portraits. He is described as a bon vivant with cheeky wit (“Just because I’m cheeky, doesn’t mean I’m not serious”).
Resilience, Adaptation, and Sensory Compensation
Hockney has been progressively deaf since the 1970s (using hearing aids since 1979). Far from seeing it as purely limiting, he frames it positively: “Going deaf has sharpened my art... If you can’t hear, you somehow see [space] clearer.” He believes losing one sense heightens others, enhancing his perception of perspective and space.
This reflects strong psychological resilience and cognitive reframing—turning potential isolation into creative advantage. In the mid-1980s, amid middle age, deafness-related isolation, and losses from AIDS among friends, he produced intense self-portraits revealing vulnerability. These show a capacity for introspection and emotional processing without descending into prolonged gloom.
Work Ethic, Identity, and Emotional Depth
Hockney is famously prolific and disciplined. He carries a sketchbook everywhere and has noted that when painting he feels thirty years old. This suggests high conscientiousness and intrinsic motivation rooted in joy rather than external validation.
His early works openly explored homoeroticism and personal relationships (e.g., with Peter Schlesinger), reflecting courage and authenticity in an era of stigma. Self-portraits across decades reveal evolving self-awareness—probing identity, aging, and perception—indicating a psychologically fluid and reflective inner life.
Potential “shadows” appear mild: occasional melancholic undertones in mid-career works and the natural grief of losses, but these fuel rather than derail his output. He shows little evidence of high neuroticism; instead, he maintains equanimity and forward momentum.
In summary, Hockney exemplifies a psychologically robust, optimistic, and curious creative temperament—high in openness, resilience, and positive affect. His deafness, personal losses, and cultural shifts become grist for deeper seeing rather than obstacles. Contrasting Ruscha’s cool detachment, Hockney’s approach is sensual, relational, and life-celebrating: he invites us to look longer and more joyfully at the world. This mindset has sustained one of the longest and most innovative careers in modern art, making him a model of creative vitality well into later life. As always, the artist himself prefers the work—and the act of looking—to any psychological label.
Special Report
LA
David Hockney’s engagement with Los Angeles and media technologies forms a vibrant, evolving chapter in his career, blending Pop Art’s celebration of California sunshine, pools, and lifestyle with innovative experiments in photography, printmaking, and digital tools. Hockney first visited LA in 1964, drawn by its light, modernist architecture, Hollywood glamour, and relaxed sensuality (in contrast to gray postwar Britain). He lived there intermittently and then more permanently, producing iconic works that captured the city’s essence while pushing media boundaries.
Iconic LA Paintings and the Swimming Pool Series
Hockney’s early LA period (mid-1960s–1970s) is defined by vibrant acrylic paintings of suburban scenes, portraits, and especially swimming pools—symbols of Californian affluence and leisure.
Photographic "Joiners" and Collage Experiments
In the early 1980s, while based in LA, Hockney revolutionized photography with joiners—photocollages assembled from dozens or hundreds of Polaroid or 35mm shots of the same subject from slightly different angles and moments.
Hockney collaborated extensively with LA’s Gemini G.E.L. workshop, producing lithographs like The Hollywood Collection (1960s) and pool-themed prints. He also created “home-made prints” using Xerox machines in the 1980s, treating everyday copiers as artistic tools.
Digital and iPad Works
Hockney’s embrace of new media intensified later, especially with the iPhone (2008) and iPad (2010 onward). Though many later landscapes draw from Yorkshire or Normandy, his LA/California roots and light obsession continue.
Hockney’s LA works bridge Pop Art’s media appropriation (like Lichtenstein’s comics or Warhol’s screens) with a more personal, optimistic celebration of light, space, and technology. His joiners and digital experiments parallel broader 20th–21st century shifts—from TV-era image saturation to digital immediacy—while maintaining a humanistic focus on perception, friendship, and place. Unlike the cooler detachment of Ruscha’s LA documentation, Hockney’s is sensual, colorful, and exploratory.His relentless media experimentation—from acrylics and Polaroids to iPads—has kept his LA-inspired vision fresh across decades, influencing how we see and represent the modern world. Major retrospectives (e.g., at LACMA or de Young) often highlight this versatility.
Iconic LA Paintings and the Swimming Pool Series
Hockney’s early LA period (mid-1960s–1970s) is defined by vibrant acrylic paintings of suburban scenes, portraits, and especially swimming pools—symbols of Californian affluence and leisure.
- A Bigger Splash (1967): The quintessential work—depicting a modernist pink house, empty chair, and a dramatic frozen splash in a turquoise pool. It captures transience (water movement) and absence, using flat colors and precise lines influenced by photography and advertising.
- Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) (1972): A monumental double portrait (sold for $90.3M in 2018, a then-record for a living artist) showing a suited figure gazing at a swimmer. It merges portraiture, landscape, and psychological tension.
- Other pools: Picture of a Hollywood Swimming Pool (1964), The Splash (1966), and series exploring water’s transparency and light refraction.
Photographic "Joiners" and Collage Experiments
In the early 1980s, while based in LA, Hockney revolutionized photography with joiners—photocollages assembled from dozens or hundreds of Polaroid or 35mm shots of the same subject from slightly different angles and moments.
- These create fragmented, multi-perspective views closer to how the eye actually sees (vs. a single frozen camera image). LA subjects included friends’ homes, terraces, and cityscapes, challenging traditional perspective and blurring photography with painting/cubism.
- They tie into his broader media curiosity, influenced by Picasso and a desire to depict movement and time.
Hockney collaborated extensively with LA’s Gemini G.E.L. workshop, producing lithographs like The Hollywood Collection (1960s) and pool-themed prints. He also created “home-made prints” using Xerox machines in the 1980s, treating everyday copiers as artistic tools.
Digital and iPad Works
Hockney’s embrace of new media intensified later, especially with the iPhone (2008) and iPad (2010 onward). Though many later landscapes draw from Yorkshire or Normandy, his LA/California roots and light obsession continue.
- He uses the Brushes app for luminous, immediate drawings—capturing fleeting light, seasons, and atmospheres with finger/stylus on a backlit screen.
- Large-scale prints of iPad works retain vibrancy without pixelation, allowing monumental output. Series like Yosemite (near LA) reflect his ongoing dialogue with California nature and technology.
- Hockney views these not as “digital art” but as just another medium: “I’m not an iPad artist... It’s just a medium,” emphasizing freedom, speed, and luminosity over traditional constraints.
Hockney’s LA works bridge Pop Art’s media appropriation (like Lichtenstein’s comics or Warhol’s screens) with a more personal, optimistic celebration of light, space, and technology. His joiners and digital experiments parallel broader 20th–21st century shifts—from TV-era image saturation to digital immediacy—while maintaining a humanistic focus on perception, friendship, and place. Unlike the cooler detachment of Ruscha’s LA documentation, Hockney’s is sensual, colorful, and exploratory.His relentless media experimentation—from acrylics and Polaroids to iPads—has kept his LA-inspired vision fresh across decades, influencing how we see and represent the modern world. Major retrospectives (e.g., at LACMA or de Young) often highlight this versatility.
1965 California
2024 SOLD for £ 18.7M by Christie's
David Hockney finishes his art studies in London in 1962. He admires the false childishness of Dubuffet's graphics.
Eager for exotic sensations, he got a mission from Sunday Times magazine for a trip to Egypt in 1963. Excited by local solutions to the problem of water, he painted on his return a Great Pyramid at Giza with Broken Head from Thebes where the foreground is invaded by a water pipe. This 183 x 183 cm oil on canvas was sold for £ 3.5M by Christie's on February 13, 2013.
Made in the same year, Two Men in a Shower is an early representation of a couple of naked men.
In his early art David Hockney acted deliberately as a rebel. His exceedingly naive figures are a response to the abstract minimalism of his friends Kenneth Noland and Frank Stella. The use of cylinders, spheres and cones pushes to the absurd the statements by Cézanne on the geometrical construction of still lifes.
Until 1967 the homosexual act will remain a crime in the United Kingdom. To become a leading gay artist, Hockney prefers to leave. In 1964 he arrives in New York where he gets imbued with pop art.
His plane flies over San Bernardino. His first vision of California is the pattern of pools hidden behind the bungalows, which allow the residents to discreetly practice all forms of hedonism under the bright sun. He is enchanted by the atmosphere of freedom, the apparent ease of life, and the tanned bodies of half naked young men at the pool and on the beach.
In his early style, a view of Different kinds of water pouring into a swimming pool located in Santa Monica, acrylic on canvas 183 x 162 cm painted in 1965, was sold for £ 2.7M by Sotheby's on March 5, 2019, lot 50. As in the Pyramids the pipe has the main role in this naive composition without people. Its water flows down to the floor of the pool. In the distance a row of trees benefits from the irrigation.
Back in England in 1965, Hockney begins with the theme of the Californian swimming pools as a bliss offered to couples of men, with now the realism required for the contemplation of bodies.
California, acrylic on canvas 168 x 200 cm, features two naked men, each of them floating on his stomachs on an air mattress. The pool has a blue background with the moving surface represented without depth effect by wavy lines in the style of the Hourloupe series started by Dubuffet in 1962.
California was sold for £ 18.7M by Christie's on March 7, 2024, lot 24.
Eager for exotic sensations, he got a mission from Sunday Times magazine for a trip to Egypt in 1963. Excited by local solutions to the problem of water, he painted on his return a Great Pyramid at Giza with Broken Head from Thebes where the foreground is invaded by a water pipe. This 183 x 183 cm oil on canvas was sold for £ 3.5M by Christie's on February 13, 2013.
Made in the same year, Two Men in a Shower is an early representation of a couple of naked men.
In his early art David Hockney acted deliberately as a rebel. His exceedingly naive figures are a response to the abstract minimalism of his friends Kenneth Noland and Frank Stella. The use of cylinders, spheres and cones pushes to the absurd the statements by Cézanne on the geometrical construction of still lifes.
Until 1967 the homosexual act will remain a crime in the United Kingdom. To become a leading gay artist, Hockney prefers to leave. In 1964 he arrives in New York where he gets imbued with pop art.
His plane flies over San Bernardino. His first vision of California is the pattern of pools hidden behind the bungalows, which allow the residents to discreetly practice all forms of hedonism under the bright sun. He is enchanted by the atmosphere of freedom, the apparent ease of life, and the tanned bodies of half naked young men at the pool and on the beach.
In his early style, a view of Different kinds of water pouring into a swimming pool located in Santa Monica, acrylic on canvas 183 x 162 cm painted in 1965, was sold for £ 2.7M by Sotheby's on March 5, 2019, lot 50. As in the Pyramids the pipe has the main role in this naive composition without people. Its water flows down to the floor of the pool. In the distance a row of trees benefits from the irrigation.
Back in England in 1965, Hockney begins with the theme of the Californian swimming pools as a bliss offered to couples of men, with now the realism required for the contemplation of bodies.
California, acrylic on canvas 168 x 200 cm, features two naked men, each of them floating on his stomachs on an air mattress. The pool has a blue background with the moving surface represented without depth effect by wavy lines in the style of the Hourloupe series started by Dubuffet in 1962.
California was sold for £ 18.7M by Christie's on March 7, 2024, lot 24.
1966 The Splash
2020 SOLD for £ 24M by Sotheby's
Back in California in 1966, David is very excited by an instantaneous color photo on the cover of a swimming pool construction manual. The foreground is a diving board. The water is agitated by the splash that has just been caused by an invisible diver.
The artist copies the photo into a first painted version, A Little Splash, 40 x 50 cm. The painting liberates the theme from its documentary aspect. This scene where no character is left visible symbolizes with much more power the joy of living. The four edges of the canvas are not painted, in order to imitate the framing of a photo.
The effect is spectacular. David painstakingly executes two large acrylics, The Splash, 183 x 183 cm, before the end of the year, and A Bigger Splash, 242 x 244 cm, in the following year. The artist later had fun reminding that he spent two weeks expressing a splash that could not last more than two seconds.
The Splash was sold for £ 24M by Sotheby's on February 11, 2020, lot 16. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Hockney offers in his art an interpretation of his fantasy, without seeking realism. For example, the horizon remains inspired by the photographic model but is extended through the bungalow without it being possible to decide whether it is a perspective or a reflection. A similar surreal illusion appears in a work from the same period, Beverly Hills Housewife, sold for $ 7.9M by Christie's on May 13, 2009.
A minimalist architecture better represents Californian homes. The roof in The Splash, still in conformance with the photo from the swimming pool marketing, is indeed too classic. It will be removed in the Bigger Splash and the BH Housewife paintings.
The artist copies the photo into a first painted version, A Little Splash, 40 x 50 cm. The painting liberates the theme from its documentary aspect. This scene where no character is left visible symbolizes with much more power the joy of living. The four edges of the canvas are not painted, in order to imitate the framing of a photo.
The effect is spectacular. David painstakingly executes two large acrylics, The Splash, 183 x 183 cm, before the end of the year, and A Bigger Splash, 242 x 244 cm, in the following year. The artist later had fun reminding that he spent two weeks expressing a splash that could not last more than two seconds.
The Splash was sold for £ 24M by Sotheby's on February 11, 2020, lot 16. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Hockney offers in his art an interpretation of his fantasy, without seeking realism. For example, the horizon remains inspired by the photographic model but is extended through the bungalow without it being possible to decide whether it is a perspective or a reflection. A similar surreal illusion appears in a work from the same period, Beverly Hills Housewife, sold for $ 7.9M by Christie's on May 13, 2009.
A minimalist architecture better represents Californian homes. The roof in The Splash, still in conformance with the photo from the swimming pool marketing, is indeed too classic. It will be removed in the Bigger Splash and the BH Housewife paintings.
1967 Lawn Being Sprinkled
2024 SOLD for $ 28.6M by Christie's
From his short mission in Egypt in 1963, David Hockney was impressed by the use of water for living in the warmest countries. Water has no proper permanent shape. It takes the form of its containers and escapes in droplets and mist.
For expressing his beloved California, David fronts the challenge of the ephemeral shape of water. A diver leaves a splash over him when he disappears below the surface, something like a peaceful eruption.
A lawn in California is critically needing water. In 1967 David expresses it in three paintings. Two of them have a couple of jets of suspended droplets that blur the view of the building behind.
The third opus is geometrically daring, with three rows of sprinklers in a quincunx pattern, each element throwing a triangular jet of vaporized water. The background is made of a poor dark barn without window like a nightmare of Hopper plus a multicolored fence. A palm tree and a pole represent the outer world.
Titled by the artist Lawn being sprinkled, this acrylic on canvas 152 x 152 cm was sold for $ 28.6M by Christie's on May 16, 2024, lot 10 B.
For expressing his beloved California, David fronts the challenge of the ephemeral shape of water. A diver leaves a splash over him when he disappears below the surface, something like a peaceful eruption.
A lawn in California is critically needing water. In 1967 David expresses it in three paintings. Two of them have a couple of jets of suspended droplets that blur the view of the building behind.
The third opus is geometrically daring, with three rows of sprinklers in a quincunx pattern, each element throwing a triangular jet of vaporized water. The background is made of a poor dark barn without window like a nightmare of Hopper plus a multicolored fence. A palm tree and a pole represent the outer world.
Titled by the artist Lawn being sprinkled, this acrylic on canvas 152 x 152 cm was sold for $ 28.6M by Christie's on May 16, 2024, lot 10 B.
1968 Isherwood and Bachardy
2025 SOLD for $ 44M by Christie's
Isherwood and Bachardy, acrylic on canvas 210 x 300 cm, was sold for $ 44M by Christie's on November 17, 2025, lot 29A.
Asking Grok to compare Geldzahler and Scott, sold by Christie's in 2019, with his Isherwood and Bachardy.
Grok thought :
Overview
David Hockney's double portraits from the late 1960s represent a pivotal phase in his career, blending realism, perspective, and intimate depictions of personal relationships. Both Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott (1969) and Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy (1968) are large-scale acrylic paintings portraying gay couples in their environments, capturing Hockney's fascination with light, space, and human connection. The former sold at Christie's in 2019 for $49.5 million, while the latter is slated for Christie's 20th Century Evening Sale in New York on November 17, 2025, with an estimate of up to £45 million (approximately $58 million). These works are part of a rare series of only seven double portraits Hockney created between 1968 and 1975, with Isherwood and Bachardy being the inaugural piece and Geldzahler and Scott following shortly after.Artistic ComparisonBoth paintings exemplify Hockney's "naturalistic" style of the period, influenced by Renaissance masters like Piero della Francesca and American minimalism. They feature meticulous one-point perspective, crystalline light effects, and textured surfaces, with symbolic still lifes in the foreground. However, subtle differences highlight evolving themes:
Geldzahler and Scott is a key follow-up, featured in major retrospectives like Tate Britain's 2017 Hockney show. Both have extensive exhibition histories, including overlaps at venues like the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They underscore Hockney's role in queer art history, portraying same-sex couples with dignity amid 1960s societal constraints.
Aspect
Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy (1968)
Acrylic on canvas, 83.5 x 119.5 in. (212 x 303.5 cm)
Novelist and artist in Santa Monica living room with books and fruit.
First in the double portrait series.
Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott (1969)
Acrylic on canvas, 84 x 120 in. (214 x 305 cm)
Art curator and partner in New York apartment with skyline view.
Early in series (post-1968 works).
Overall, Isherwood and Bachardy edges out as more seminal due to its primacy in the series and direct ties to Hockney's California inspiration, while Geldzahler and Scott offers a bolder urban narrative. Their proximity in creation underscores Hockney's rapid mastery, with market interest likely driving the 2025 sale to new heights.
Pre sale Grok thought :
Quote
ARTnews @artnews Sep 18
A marquee lot in Christie’s 20th century evening sale in New York in November will be David Hockney’s “Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy” (1968), a double portrait of the storied English writer and his American artist partner in their home in Santa Monica, California.
Asking Grok to compare Geldzahler and Scott, sold by Christie's in 2019, with his Isherwood and Bachardy.
Grok thought :
Overview
David Hockney's double portraits from the late 1960s represent a pivotal phase in his career, blending realism, perspective, and intimate depictions of personal relationships. Both Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott (1969) and Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy (1968) are large-scale acrylic paintings portraying gay couples in their environments, capturing Hockney's fascination with light, space, and human connection. The former sold at Christie's in 2019 for $49.5 million, while the latter is slated for Christie's 20th Century Evening Sale in New York on November 17, 2025, with an estimate of up to £45 million (approximately $58 million). These works are part of a rare series of only seven double portraits Hockney created between 1968 and 1975, with Isherwood and Bachardy being the inaugural piece and Geldzahler and Scott following shortly after.Artistic ComparisonBoth paintings exemplify Hockney's "naturalistic" style of the period, influenced by Renaissance masters like Piero della Francesca and American minimalism. They feature meticulous one-point perspective, crystalline light effects, and textured surfaces, with symbolic still lifes in the foreground. However, subtle differences highlight evolving themes:
- Composition and Subjects: Isherwood and Bachardy depicts the English novelist Christopher Isherwood (right, gazing at his partner) and artist Don Bachardy (left, directly engaging the viewer) in their sunlit Santa Monica living room. The scene includes books, a bowl of fruit (notably a large banana, possibly symbolic), and blue shutters framing the couple in a domestic, intimate setting that celebrates their long-term relationship and California queer culture. In contrast, Geldzahler and Scott shows Metropolitan Museum curator Henry Geldzahler (central, framed by New York skyscrapers) and his partner Christopher Scott (right, as a peripheral figure), emphasizing urban dynamism and a dialogue between the subjects and the artist. The New York skyline adds a metropolitan energy absent in the more relaxed, West Coast vibe of the earlier work.
- Style and Technique: Both use acrylic for sharp, vibrant colors and explore acts of seeing through glass and reflections. Isherwood and Bachardy feels more foundational, with Hockney experimenting with spatial arrangement and sightlines in a brightly lit interior. Geldzahler and Scott builds on this, incorporating sharper shadows and a broader exploration of texture across surfaces like glass tables, creating a sense of fleeting interaction.
- Themes: Each captures Hockney's interest in homosexual relationships during a time when they were often taboo. Isherwood and Bachardy is overtly celebratory of a stable partnership in a "middle-class" context, influenced by Isherwood's literary world (e.g., A Single Man). Geldzahler and Scott delves into art-world dynamics, with Geldzahler's curatorial prominence adding layers of cultural glamour.
- Historical and Cultural Significance
Geldzahler and Scott is a key follow-up, featured in major retrospectives like Tate Britain's 2017 Hockney show. Both have extensive exhibition histories, including overlaps at venues like the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They underscore Hockney's role in queer art history, portraying same-sex couples with dignity amid 1960s societal constraints.
- Market Value and Sale Details
Aspect
Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy (1968)
Acrylic on canvas, 83.5 x 119.5 in. (212 x 303.5 cm)
Novelist and artist in Santa Monica living room with books and fruit.
First in the double portrait series.
Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott (1969)
Acrylic on canvas, 84 x 120 in. (214 x 305 cm)
Art curator and partner in New York apartment with skyline view.
Early in series (post-1968 works).
Overall, Isherwood and Bachardy edges out as more seminal due to its primacy in the series and direct ties to Hockney's California inspiration, while Geldzahler and Scott offers a bolder urban narrative. Their proximity in creation underscores Hockney's rapid mastery, with market interest likely driving the 2025 sale to new heights.
Pre sale Grok thought :
Quote
ARTnews @artnews Sep 18
A marquee lot in Christie’s 20th century evening sale in New York in November will be David Hockney’s “Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy” (1968), a double portrait of the storied English writer and his American artist partner in their home in Santa Monica, California.
- ARTnews highlights David Hockney's 1968 acrylic double portrait "Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy" as a marquee lot in Christie's 20th Century Evening Sale on November 17, 2025, in New York, capturing the novelist and artist in their Santa Monica home amid blue shutters, wicker chairs, and a fruit bowl.
- This work, Hockney's first in a series of seven double portraits, marks a pivotal moment in his career, blending psychological intimacy with art-historical references like Piero della Francesca; it has appeared in every major Hockney retrospective and was recently exhibited at Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris through August 2025.
- Held in a private collection for 40 years, the painting's estimate is available on request, reflecting its status as a revolutionary depiction of a same-sex relationship in 1960s California, with the single reply noting the contrast between Hockney's Bradford origins and the subjects' sunlit setting.
1969 Geldzahler and Scott
2019 SOLD for £ 38M by Christie's
Looking for sexual freedom, David Hockney arrives in California in 1964. The easy life nevertheless does not answer his questioning about communication within a couple.
Between 1968 and 1977 he makes double portraits in very large format, 214 x 305 cm. He alternates between homosexual and heterosexual couples and ends the series with his own parents, clearly assessing that his concern is no longer sex but dialogue. The sitters are most often identified in the title and are very recognizable.
Invariably the two characters are distant from each other with a deliberately orthogonal gazing. In this strange intimacy, the painter is an invisible social voyeur.
Installed again in London in 1968, he does not neglect America. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is preparing a major exhibition that will reveal post-war American art to the general public. The curator of this important cultural operation is the highly influential Henry Geldzahler.
Hockney arrives in Geldzahler's living room in Manhattan with his sketchbook, polaroid camera and flu. Back in his studio in London, he paints in 1969 'Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott'. This acrylic on canvas was sold for £ 38M by Christie's on March 6, 2019, lot 8.
The two men could not be more dissimilar and yet their life as a couple is sustainable. Robust and confident in himself, Geldzahler is comfortably seated in the middle of a beautiful sofa worthy of the greatest Art Deco collections. On the right, his young partner is standing, dressed in a raincoat too big for him and as stiff as the floor lamp. The scene is located by the skyscrapers beyond the small window.
Grok thought from earlier tweet :
Quote
Brindille @Brindille_ Mar 24, 2017
"Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott", 1969 #painting by David Hockney #exhibition at @Tate Britain http://tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/david-hockney…
Between 1968 and 1977 he makes double portraits in very large format, 214 x 305 cm. He alternates between homosexual and heterosexual couples and ends the series with his own parents, clearly assessing that his concern is no longer sex but dialogue. The sitters are most often identified in the title and are very recognizable.
Invariably the two characters are distant from each other with a deliberately orthogonal gazing. In this strange intimacy, the painter is an invisible social voyeur.
Installed again in London in 1968, he does not neglect America. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is preparing a major exhibition that will reveal post-war American art to the general public. The curator of this important cultural operation is the highly influential Henry Geldzahler.
Hockney arrives in Geldzahler's living room in Manhattan with his sketchbook, polaroid camera and flu. Back in his studio in London, he paints in 1969 'Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott'. This acrylic on canvas was sold for £ 38M by Christie's on March 6, 2019, lot 8.
The two men could not be more dissimilar and yet their life as a couple is sustainable. Robust and confident in himself, Geldzahler is comfortably seated in the middle of a beautiful sofa worthy of the greatest Art Deco collections. On the right, his young partner is standing, dressed in a raincoat too big for him and as stiff as the floor lamp. The scene is located by the skyscrapers beyond the small window.
Grok thought from earlier tweet :
Quote
Brindille @Brindille_ Mar 24, 2017
"Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott", 1969 #painting by David Hockney #exhibition at @Tate Britain http://tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/david-hockney…
- David Hockney's 1969 acrylic double portrait depicts influential curator Henry Geldzahler seated on a pink sofa with partner Christopher Scott standing nearby, overlooking a hazy New York skyline, symbolizing their personal and professional bond in the art world.
- Painted during Hockney's shift to ambitious large-scale works, it represented a career turning point, later fetching $49.8 million at Christie's in 2019 as a rare early example of his mature style.
- Posted by art aficionado @Brindille_ amid the Tate Britain's Hockney retrospective, the image underscores the painting's role in exploring queer identity and urban modernity through stylized domestic scenes.
1969 Sainte-Maxime
2022 SOLD for £ 21M by Christie's
In 1966 Peter Schlesinger is attending a drawing class in Los Angeles. For this session, the teacher is David Hockney, an eccentric Brit with a tomato red suit, cardboard glasses and a terrible Yorkshire accent. It's love at first sight. Their life as a couple lasts several years, with social gatherings and travels.
In the fall of 1968, after a cruise down the Rhine, they are guested by the film director Tony Richardson in his villa Le Nid du Duc in the mountains over the Côte d'Azur.
David takes photos, from which he will realize four realistic paintings as souvenirs of that happy time.
Early morning, Sainte-Maxime, acrylic on canvas 122 x 153 cm painted in 1969, is a contre-jour view of the sea shore in that chic resort, taking advantage of the sunrise reflection on the sea for a range of bright colors, from the pink and violet sky to the purple, azure and aquamarine of the sea and the gold on sun light.
The picture includes the signature streaks for the stylized waves. A jetty at low tide looks like a Californian diving board. For the hypersensitive artist, the sunrise symbolizes the hope and joy of awakening.
This painting was sold for £ 21M from a lower estimate of £ 7M by Christie's on October 13, 2022, lot 8.
In the fall of 1968, after a cruise down the Rhine, they are guested by the film director Tony Richardson in his villa Le Nid du Duc in the mountains over the Côte d'Azur.
David takes photos, from which he will realize four realistic paintings as souvenirs of that happy time.
Early morning, Sainte-Maxime, acrylic on canvas 122 x 153 cm painted in 1969, is a contre-jour view of the sea shore in that chic resort, taking advantage of the sunrise reflection on the sea for a range of bright colors, from the pink and violet sky to the purple, azure and aquamarine of the sea and the gold on sun light.
The picture includes the signature streaks for the stylized waves. A jetty at low tide looks like a Californian diving board. For the hypersensitive artist, the sunrise symbolizes the hope and joy of awakening.
This painting was sold for £ 21M from a lower estimate of £ 7M by Christie's on October 13, 2022, lot 8.
1971 Sur la Terrasse
2019 SOLD for $ 29.5M by Christie's
The life as a couple of David Hockney and Peter Schlesinger lasts several years. The age difference is too much and Peter needs new adventures. They start arguing.
In February 1971 the couple rents a hotel room in Marrakech. David sketches his friend, sometimes from behind, on the large sunny terrace. in the following month, back in his studio, David feels that Peter escapes him. He paints Sur la Terrasse (the title is in French), which he will finish during the summer.
Sur la Terrasse is a staging in three successive distances in the manner of Bonnard's terraces. In the background, the morning sun bathes the lush vegetation. The middle stage is the terrace on which Peter, seen from behind, is standing and looks at the garden. The foreground is the opening of the window from where we imagine that David is observing Peter.
At this time David works in the presence of Jack Hazan for preparing a biopic. The moviemaker has thus the chance to attend during the long period when the artist cannot overcome his first heartbreak. Hazan will also record in 1972 the preparation of Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) on the theme of Peter's interest in another man.
Sur la Terrasse had not been displayed to the public since 1973. This 275 x 214 cm acrylic on canvas was sold for $ 29.5M for sale by Christie's on November 13, 2019, lot 9 B. Portrait of an artist was sold for $ 90M by Christie's in 2018. The biopic A Bigger Splash was released in 1974.
In February 1971 the couple rents a hotel room in Marrakech. David sketches his friend, sometimes from behind, on the large sunny terrace. in the following month, back in his studio, David feels that Peter escapes him. He paints Sur la Terrasse (the title is in French), which he will finish during the summer.
Sur la Terrasse is a staging in three successive distances in the manner of Bonnard's terraces. In the background, the morning sun bathes the lush vegetation. The middle stage is the terrace on which Peter, seen from behind, is standing and looks at the garden. The foreground is the opening of the window from where we imagine that David is observing Peter.
At this time David works in the presence of Jack Hazan for preparing a biopic. The moviemaker has thus the chance to attend during the long period when the artist cannot overcome his first heartbreak. Hazan will also record in 1972 the preparation of Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) on the theme of Peter's interest in another man.
Sur la Terrasse had not been displayed to the public since 1973. This 275 x 214 cm acrylic on canvas was sold for $ 29.5M for sale by Christie's on November 13, 2019, lot 9 B. Portrait of an artist was sold for $ 90M by Christie's in 2018. The biopic A Bigger Splash was released in 1974.
1972 Portrait of an Artist
2018 SOLD for $ 90M by Christie's
David Hockney reaches his paradise on Earth in 1964. In Los Angeles the sky and the water of the pools are blue in different shades to which the midday sun brings a perfect purity. This atmosphere exacerbates his homosexual sensibility. Peter Schlesinger becomes his lover and muse in 1966.
David sees by chance on the floor of his studio the conjunction of two photographs that can constitute a scene : a swimmer under water and a standing boy watching something in the distance. The relationship between two men has always been one of his favorite themes. He has just found a way to express his affair with Peter.
It is not so easy for this hypersensitive artist. He destroys a first version. The sudden break between the lovers occurs around that time. In the spring of 1972 David leaves with two assistants to take photographs in a house of director Tony Richardson named Le Nid du Duc in the countryside above Saint-Tropez. During the summer of 1969 David and Peter had spent a few happy days at that place.
A photograph of the swimmer suits him. It will not be a self-portrait in the picture. For the properly dressed observer who will be standing up by the pool, he finds in his archives some photographs of the real Peter, as if David now agreed to entrust Peter to an unidentifiable swimmer.
The acrylic on canvas 213 x 305 cm painted in 1972 is titled Portrait of an Artist and subtitled Pool with Two Figures. The swimmer is under water and Peter is at the edge of the pool. Although Peter's gaze is directed towards the swimmer, communication between them is impossible.
In 1974 a biopic titled A Bigger Splash tells the story of the breaking up of David and Peter. David plays his own role. The film incorporates sequences that had been shot during the preparation of the Portrait of an Artist. The mix of emotion and real intimacy makes A Bigger Splash a cult film of the gay communities, to the point of shocking David himself. He will change his mind later.
This painting was sold for $ 90M by Christie's on November 15, 2018, lot 9 C. Please watch the video prepared by the auction house including sequences from the movie.
Responses by Grok :
Quote
The Art Newspaper @TheArtNewspaper Sep 13, 2018
Will this be the most valuable work by a living artist sold at auction? @ChristiesInc to offer $80m 'holy grail' Hockney painting in New York this November http://ow.ly/Vtbe30lNMIj
Christie's @ChristiesInc Nov 16, 2018
David Hockney's 'Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)' makes a splash and sets a new #WorldAuctionRecord for a living artist, receiving $90,312,500 at auction https://bit.ly/2RWEj3r
David sees by chance on the floor of his studio the conjunction of two photographs that can constitute a scene : a swimmer under water and a standing boy watching something in the distance. The relationship between two men has always been one of his favorite themes. He has just found a way to express his affair with Peter.
It is not so easy for this hypersensitive artist. He destroys a first version. The sudden break between the lovers occurs around that time. In the spring of 1972 David leaves with two assistants to take photographs in a house of director Tony Richardson named Le Nid du Duc in the countryside above Saint-Tropez. During the summer of 1969 David and Peter had spent a few happy days at that place.
A photograph of the swimmer suits him. It will not be a self-portrait in the picture. For the properly dressed observer who will be standing up by the pool, he finds in his archives some photographs of the real Peter, as if David now agreed to entrust Peter to an unidentifiable swimmer.
The acrylic on canvas 213 x 305 cm painted in 1972 is titled Portrait of an Artist and subtitled Pool with Two Figures. The swimmer is under water and Peter is at the edge of the pool. Although Peter's gaze is directed towards the swimmer, communication between them is impossible.
In 1974 a biopic titled A Bigger Splash tells the story of the breaking up of David and Peter. David plays his own role. The film incorporates sequences that had been shot during the preparation of the Portrait of an Artist. The mix of emotion and real intimacy makes A Bigger Splash a cult film of the gay communities, to the point of shocking David himself. He will change his mind later.
This painting was sold for $ 90M by Christie's on November 15, 2018, lot 9 C. Please watch the video prepared by the auction house including sequences from the movie.
Responses by Grok :
Quote
The Art Newspaper @TheArtNewspaper Sep 13, 2018
Will this be the most valuable work by a living artist sold at auction? @ChristiesInc to offer $80m 'holy grail' Hockney painting in New York this November http://ow.ly/Vtbe30lNMIj
- The painting in the post, "Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)" by David Hockney, fetched $90.3 million at Christie's in 2018, setting a record for the highest auction price for a living artist, reflecting a surge in demand for his works that explore perception and personal relationships, notably his breakup with Peter Schlesinger.
- Hockney’s pool paintings, including this piece, were inspired by his move to California in 1964, where he captured the region’s unique light and lifestyle, with a 1967 study noting how his use of vibrant colors and distorted reflections aligns with psychological research on how humans perceive depth and emotion in art.
- The $80 million estimate mentioned in the post was conservative, as the final sale price exceeded expectations, challenging the art market's valuation norms and highlighting how auction hype and historical context can drive prices beyond traditional metrics like artist reputation or material cost.
Christie's @ChristiesInc Nov 16, 2018
David Hockney's 'Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)' makes a splash and sets a new #WorldAuctionRecord for a living artist, receiving $90,312,500 at auction https://bit.ly/2RWEj3r
- The painting "Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)" by David Hockney, sold for $90.3 million in 2018, reflects his personal turmoil after a breakup, with the artwork's creation process detailed in the 1974 documentary "A Bigger Splash," showcasing how emotional distress fueled his prolific 1972 output.
- This sale broke the previous auction record for a living artist ($58 million for Jeff Koons' "Balloon Dog" in 2013), highlighting a surge in demand for contemporary art, supported by a 2019 Art Basel and UBS report showing a 6% annual growth in global art market value from 2014-2018.
- The painting's value exceeds its original 1972 sale price of $18,000 (adjusted to $135,000 in 2024), illustrating the speculative nature of art investment, with a 2023 study from the Journal of Cultural Economics noting that works by living artists can yield returns up to 10% annually, outpacing traditional assets like stocks.
1980 Nichols Canyon
2020 SOLD for $ 41M by Phillips
David Hockney could not do any more without Los Angeles. In 1978 he moves there permanently. The workshop is downside, in the plain of Santa Monica. The residence is up, in the Hollywood Hills. Everyday, morning and evening, his journey passes through Nichols Canyon. The environment is idyllic : swimming pools, palm trees, blue sky, bright colors.
The road is both winding and wide. It was built in 1925 to give the megalopolis a comfortable road escape to the north. David knows all its twists and turns. He drives with musical gestures. The melody he sings compensates for his increasing deafness.
David is not a professional musician. He is a pictorial artist. To express the pleasure of his journey, he paints in 1980 Nichols Canyon, acrylic on canvas 213 x 152 cm, with colors inspired by the vibrant exaggerations of the Fauvistes.
The musical meanders of the road cross all the space. It is a real road : its shortened name, Nichols Cyn Rd, is inscribed like on a road map. The STOP at the place where the road leaves the hills, in the foreground, marks the exit from that paradise. The red dot in the middle of the route symbolizes the artist's Mercedes-Benz.
Nichols Canyon was sold for $ 41M by Phillips on December 7, 2020, lot 10. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
David had pleasure in communicating in this work his musical style of driving in the hills. Painted ten years later with the same inspiration in a more spectacular perspective, Pacific Coast Highway and Santa Monica, oil on canvas 198 x 305 cm, was sold for $ 28.5M by Sotheby's on May 16, 2018.
Grok thought :
Quote
PHILLIPS @phillipsauction Dec 8, 2020
David Hockney's monumental painting 'Nichols Canyon,' 1980 sells for $41,067,500 setting a new world auction record for a landscape by the artist #DavidHockney
The road is both winding and wide. It was built in 1925 to give the megalopolis a comfortable road escape to the north. David knows all its twists and turns. He drives with musical gestures. The melody he sings compensates for his increasing deafness.
David is not a professional musician. He is a pictorial artist. To express the pleasure of his journey, he paints in 1980 Nichols Canyon, acrylic on canvas 213 x 152 cm, with colors inspired by the vibrant exaggerations of the Fauvistes.
The musical meanders of the road cross all the space. It is a real road : its shortened name, Nichols Cyn Rd, is inscribed like on a road map. The STOP at the place where the road leaves the hills, in the foreground, marks the exit from that paradise. The red dot in the middle of the route symbolizes the artist's Mercedes-Benz.
Nichols Canyon was sold for $ 41M by Phillips on December 7, 2020, lot 10. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
David had pleasure in communicating in this work his musical style of driving in the hills. Painted ten years later with the same inspiration in a more spectacular perspective, Pacific Coast Highway and Santa Monica, oil on canvas 198 x 305 cm, was sold for $ 28.5M by Sotheby's on May 16, 2018.
Grok thought :
Quote
PHILLIPS @phillipsauction Dec 8, 2020
David Hockney's monumental painting 'Nichols Canyon,' 1980 sells for $41,067,500 setting a new world auction record for a landscape by the artist #DavidHockney
- David Hockney's "Nichols Canyon" (1980) captures a winding Hollywood Hills road through vibrant, abstracted layers of color, blending real observation with memory to pioneer his 1980s panoramic landscapes.
- The Phillips auction sale for $41,067,500 in December 2020 surpassed the $35 million estimate, establishing a record for Hockney landscapes that remains unbroken as of 2025 amid rising demand for his works.
- The post underscores the 2020 art market surge during the pandemic, with a reply highlighting the painting's value exceeding one-tenth of Bob Dylan's $300 million song catalog sale that year.
1990 Pacific Coast Highway and Santa Monica
2018 SOLD for $ 28.5M by Sotheby's
David Hockney has his studio in Santa Monica. In the mid afternoon he returns home to Hollywood Hills by the Pacific Coast Highway. The journey is long and repetitive. In 1990 he prepares a 90-minute tape of Wagner's music on a rhythm that matches the immutable sequence of the visited landscape.
He installs a control panel and twelve speakers in his vintage red convertible Mercedes. He names My Wagner Drive this unprecedented audio-landscape work that has no meaning outside his usual transit on the highway.
At that time Hockney is not very active in his main occupation as a graphic artist. He wants his art to be happy but many of his friends are dying of AIDS. Wagner's road helps him against his doubts.
On May 16, 2018, Sotheby's sold for $ 28.5M from a lower estimate of $ 20M Pacific Coast Highway and Santa Monica, oil on canvas 198 x 305 cm painted in 1990, lot 21.
This painting is an accumulation of rare colors in closed surfaces. Its naive geometric composition meets the taste of the classical Chinese landscape that brings together several observation points for a more spectacular effect, in opposition to works inspired by photography. The winding road is the only evidence of a human intervention.
Later in a trend towards monumental painting, Hockney will divide the landscape into a grid of autonomous canvases, confirming that even when his subject is unique his point of observation is not. Painted in 1998 the 169 x 167 cm view of the Grand Canyon is an example of this once again unconventional phase. This study in fifteen parts was sold for £ 6M by Sotheby's on October 5, 2017.
He installs a control panel and twelve speakers in his vintage red convertible Mercedes. He names My Wagner Drive this unprecedented audio-landscape work that has no meaning outside his usual transit on the highway.
At that time Hockney is not very active in his main occupation as a graphic artist. He wants his art to be happy but many of his friends are dying of AIDS. Wagner's road helps him against his doubts.
On May 16, 2018, Sotheby's sold for $ 28.5M from a lower estimate of $ 20M Pacific Coast Highway and Santa Monica, oil on canvas 198 x 305 cm painted in 1990, lot 21.
This painting is an accumulation of rare colors in closed surfaces. Its naive geometric composition meets the taste of the classical Chinese landscape that brings together several observation points for a more spectacular effect, in opposition to works inspired by photography. The winding road is the only evidence of a human intervention.
Later in a trend towards monumental painting, Hockney will divide the landscape into a grid of autonomous canvases, confirming that even when his subject is unique his point of observation is not. Painted in 1998 the 169 x 167 cm view of the Grand Canyon is an example of this once again unconventional phase. This study in fifteen parts was sold for £ 6M by Sotheby's on October 5, 2017.
Special Report
Joiners
David Hockney’s “joiners” (also called photographic collages or photocollages) are composite images created by assembling multiple photographs—typically Polaroids or 35mm prints—taken from slightly different angles, distances, and moments in time into a single, fragmented yet cohesive artwork. Hockney developed this technique in the early 1980s (peaking 1982–1986), and it became one of his most innovative contributions to photography and perception.
Origins and Accidental Discovery
Hockney was dissatisfied with conventional photography, particularly wide-angle lenses that he felt distorted space unnaturally and froze time into a single, artificial moment. While working on a painting of his living room and terrace in Los Angeles, he took Polaroid snapshots as preparatory studies. He glued them together experimentally and realized they created a narrative sense of movement through the space—closer to how humans actually see (in fragments, with shifting focus and perspective) than a single photo could.This accidental breakthrough led him to produce hundreds of joiners, temporarily pausing painting to explore the medium intensely.
Technical Process
Hockney’s joiners bridge photography, painting, and Cubism while prefiguring digital collage and multi-perspective techniques. They influenced how artists and photographers explore space, time, and subjectivity. Later, he extended similar ideas into video installations (multi-camera “views”) and iPad drawings.
The technique remains accessible today—artists replicate it with digital tools (Photoshop layers, apps) or physical prints—but Hockney’s originals stand out for their intuitive, exploratory energy and profound rethinking of visual truth. They perfectly align with his lifelong obsession: expanding ways of seeing.
Origins and Accidental Discovery
Hockney was dissatisfied with conventional photography, particularly wide-angle lenses that he felt distorted space unnaturally and froze time into a single, artificial moment. While working on a painting of his living room and terrace in Los Angeles, he took Polaroid snapshots as preparatory studies. He glued them together experimentally and realized they created a narrative sense of movement through the space—closer to how humans actually see (in fragments, with shifting focus and perspective) than a single photo could.This accidental breakthrough led him to produce hundreds of joiners, temporarily pausing painting to explore the medium intensely.
Technical Process
- Shooting:
- Hockney used a Polaroid camera initially (instant results allowed immediate assembly and iteration) and later switched to a Pentax 110 or other 35mm cameras for processed color prints.
- He photographed the same subject (portraits, interiors, landscapes, still lifes) from multiple viewpoints—moving around, closer/farther, higher/lower—often in quick succession or over minutes/hours/days.
- Slight variations in angle, distance, focus, exposure, and timing were intentional to capture fragmented glimpses and the passage of time.
- Assembly:
- Photos were physically arranged on a surface (floor, wall) like a jigsaw puzzle, overlapping edges or leaving visible seams.
- Two main styles emerged:
- Grid-style: Neat, rectangular arrays (common with Polaroids, which had white borders).
- Freestyle/overlapping: More organic, sprawling compositions with irregular shapes, rotations, and overlaps for dynamic energy.
- He embraced misalignments, scale shifts, and perspective disparities rather than hiding them—creating a Cubist-like fragmentation.
- Scale and Output:
- Joiners range from modest (dozens of images) to monumental (e.g., Pearblossom Hwy., 11–18th April 1986 uses ~850 exposures). Some works spanned multiple days of shooting and assembly.
- Multiple Perspectives and Time: Joiners reject the camera’s “single-eye” tyranny, mimicking human vision (scanning, focusing sequentially) and Cubism’s simultaneous viewpoints (Picasso/Braque influence). They show movement, narrative, and subjective experience.
- Perception and Reality: Hockney aimed to depict how we actually see—not a frozen, objective record but a lived, temporal process.
- Narrative Quality: The viewer “moves through” the image, as if walking around the subject.
- Early Polaroid grids of interiors or his mother.
- Gregory Watching the Snow Fall, Kyoto, Feb. 1983.
- Monumental landscapes like Pearblossom Highway.
- Portraits with layered faces and shifting expressions.
Hockney’s joiners bridge photography, painting, and Cubism while prefiguring digital collage and multi-perspective techniques. They influenced how artists and photographers explore space, time, and subjectivity. Later, he extended similar ideas into video installations (multi-camera “views”) and iPad drawings.
The technique remains accessible today—artists replicate it with digital tools (Photoshop layers, apps) or physical prints—but Hockney’s originals stand out for their intuitive, exploratory energy and profound rethinking of visual truth. They perfectly align with his lifelong obsession: expanding ways of seeing.
