10/07/2026
David Hockney was born on this day 1937 in Bradford, UK. š¦ šØ
He first stepped foot in California in 1963, a year after graduating from Londonās Royal College of Art, and was immediately won over by its sunshine and laid-back lifestyle (quite different from his previous London life). He described it as his āpromised landā and spent much of the next forty years living there.
'A Bigger Splash' took Hockney around two weeks to paint, in contrast to the fleeting moment it captures. āWhen you photograph a splash, youāre freezing a moment and it becomes something else. I realise that a splash could never be seen this way in real life, it happens too quickly. And I was amused by this, so I painted it in a very, very slow way.ā With its bright colours and vivid shapes, the painting embodies a true sense of joy and inspires feelings of optimism.
š¼ļø David Hockney (1937-2026), A Bigger Splash, 1967 Ā© Estate of David Hockney. On free display at Tate Britain
