Portrait of My Father - 1955

This painting was exhibited at the Yorkshire Artists exhibition at Leeds Art Gallery in 1957, and is the first work he ever sells. He says, "My father, who'd bought the canvas, set up the easel and then set up a chair for himself, and he set mirrors round so he could watch the progress of the painting and give a commentary. And he would say, "Oooh, that's too muddy, is that for my cheek?"

The Student - Homage to Picasso - 1973

David Hockney's fascination with Picasso began in 1960 as a student at the Royal College of Art, and from then on he has increasingly acknowledged the influence on his work of Picasso's art and of Picasso as a model of creative freedom.

In this work, Hockney approaches Picasso in the manner of a student carrying his portfolio for inspection, represented as a giant sculptured head on a column.

Portrait of an Artist

(Pool with Two Figures) - 1972

Jack Hazan’s film A Bigger Splash helped make Portrait of an Artist one of David Hockney’s most well-documented paintings. The filming of the film begins in the summer of 1971, a few months before Hockney undertakes the work. It ends with the last brushstrokes given to Portrait of an Artist, a few days before his exhibition at the André Emmerich Gallery in New York, in May 1972. In 2018, it sold at Christie's auction house in New York City for $90 million (£70 million), becoming the most expensive artwork by a living artist at that time.

The Splash - 1966

A Bigger Splash is a perfect promotional image of California, a sketch of the symbols of its way of life, of the clichés of its decor. A perfectly pure sky, low and modern houses, wide open, palm trees with perched high tops and, of course, swimming pools, more swimming pools … A “producer” chair reminds us by its presence that Hollywood is not far. Such a synthesis did not spring thus constituted from the brush of Hockney. Two 1966 paintings announce A Bigger Splash The Little Splash, the first in the series, draws a swimming pool with still curvilinear shapes. It shows a house, whose sloping roof sacrifices more to nostalgia than to local laws of rainfall. The Splash, the same year, this time subjects the swimming pool to the rigor of orthogonality. The distance of a landscape, the prospect of a plinth for modern sculpture, further hollows out a space that the Bigger Splash will violently crush. As the only suggestion of a deep space, A Bigger Splash only retains the line of a diving board, drawn diagonally. Alone, or almost, the leaves of a palm tree distinguish it from a work by Près Mondrian. To ensure the flatness of its colored areas, Hockney goes so far as to abandon its brushes in favor of the roller.

Man in Shower in Beverly Hills - 1964

This painting includes some of the artist’s favourite themes: moving water, the curtain, domestic scenes and homoerotic imagery. The curtain motif (in particular, its flatness and similarities to a painting) had interested Hockney for several years. The source for the figure is a photograph taken by the Athletic Model Guild, which specialised in male nudes; the figure also has similarities to several images in Physique Pictorial. Hockney had intended from the beginning to add the foreground plant but, having difficulty with the feet, he bent the leaves to cover them. He began painting in acrylic during this first visit to Los Angeles, when colour rather than texture was his main concern.

Model with Unfinished Self-Portrait - 1977

Hockney's self- portrait, which was not finished at the time, was leaning against the wall of his London studio. Gregory, his boyfriend, posed on a bed in front of it and great deal of his figure was painted from life. That gave a kind of power. It looks as though it's a painting of two completely different kinds of space. It seems as if there's a stage behind Gregory with a curtain. The curtain has been pulled back and there is Hockney, about to draw a guitar.

Nichols Canyon - 1980

Hockney has created a Fauvist composition that delights the senses. The technique used to create this painting ensures that his choice of shade cannot be misinterpreted. Each hue remains fairly undiluted, reflecting the vivid scene that the painter sees both before him and in his mind’s eye. The force of each splendid stroke of the brush requests consideration, bringing the eye to wander everywhere throughout the canvas.

Fauvism was the first of the cutting edge developments that prospered in France in the early twentieth century. Seemingly rebellious in their creation, the Fauve painters decided that Impressionism would not allow them to express themselves.

Pearblossom Hwy - 1986

This is a painting of the notorious route 138, Antelope Valley, from both a driver's and passenger 's perspective. The composition also plays on perspective by way of the enlargement of nearer objects. This technique further emphasises the differing standpoints involved.

Hockney was painting light on glass. The only equivalent where you would get colours like this is with stained glass itself where you can get a richness of colour that even paint can't give. It has almost a neon glow.

American Collectors

(Fred and Marcia Weisman) - 1968

In the painting, Fred and Marcia look unhappy. Hockney sets them among their sculptures, standing apart and looking in different directors. Fred clenches a fist so fiercely he appears to be dripping paint; Marcia grins, her mouth mirroring that of the totem on the grass behind her. By choosing to have them mirror the pieces, the artist may be displaying their dedication to their purpose. The painting is a tease of textures and patterns, set against a depthless sky. By all accounts Marcia was not happy with the portrait.

Garden - 2015

With its distinctive blue terrace in the background and swimming pool in the centre, Garden 2015 is instantly recognizable as Hockney’s own Hollywood garden. The cacti that occupy the foreground of the picture make the garden a haven of life and colour amidst the drought California was gripped by at the time of painting. The bright acrylics capture the vibrancy of his LA home, explored by the artist from different view points over the course of many years of his impressive career.

Self Portrait with Red Braces - 2003

This self-portrait with red braces was displayed at the David Hockney Drawing from Life exhibition. He presented an exhibition dedicated to his drawings, featuring around 150 works created over half a century, at the National Portrait Gallery, London.

The exhibition explored Hockney's practice of depicting a small group of sitters repeatedly over the years, his muse and confidante, the designer Celia Birtwell, his mother, his friend and curator Gregory Evans, master printer Maurice Payne, and the artist himself. Revisiting these people over decades, giving us a huge insight into how his practice has evolved over time.

My Parents - 1977

Hockey completed this work after two failed attempts at painting his parents, Kenneth and Laura Hockney. They were frustrated when Hockney gave up on previous versions, having spent hours posing for him. However, speaking about their reaction to My Parents, Hockney’s sister Margaret said, ‘Mum and Dad were very proud of it, and felt all the sittings had been worthwhile’. Kenneth and Laura’s poses may reflect their personalities. Laura is gazing directly at the viewer. Kenneth, known for fidgeting during sittings, is shown reading, as though he has forgotten he is being observed.

Woldgate Woods - 2006

Early in the year, at a John Constable retrospective at the Tate Britain, Hockney is impresses by the scale of the British master's oil sketches. Upon returning to Bridlington, he explores painting the East Yorkshire landscape en plein air in oil. Having done many single canvas works, he turns his attention to a more expansive scale, which he achieves by combining canvases to depict a single scene across a grid of two, four or six canvases.

Bigger Trees Near Water - 2007

This is David Hockney's largest work to date. It measures 15 by 40 feet, it comprises 50 canvases, each painted outdoors, with the entire composition planned using digital photography for display across an entire wall at the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition. A public sensation at the RA, and likely the largest en plein air ever made. It is not a painting that makes you think, "I want to step into it." Your mind is already in it. The picture engulfs you. Hockney gifted Bigger Trees Near Water, and the two digital reproductions of the work, to the Tate following his seventieth birthday.