Tate’s David Hockney retrospective, which will trace the artist’s career from his early sketches in the 1960s to unseen new paintings, has become the fastest-selling exhibition in the gallery’s history.
The exhibition, which opens on Thursday, is the largest ever staged by Tate Britain and is Hockney’s most extensive show, covering six decades of his life lived between London, Yorkshire and Los Angeles. It is also his first retrospective since 1988.
A Tate spokeswoman said about 20,000 advance tickets had been sold so far.
Hockney, 79, is regarded as one of the world’s greatest living artists, his vibrant canvases capturing 1960s bohemia, the lush foliage of the Hollywood Hills and the rolling landscapes of Yorkshire, where he was born and later returned to live for a time.
Hockney is said to be thrilled with the exhibition, which he was closely involved with over the two years it took to select and gather the works from galleries and private collectors across the world.
Always one for understatement, walking around after the exhibition installation was completed on Thursday, his only comment was: “I made some quite good pictures, didn’t I?”
