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Whilst alive David Hockney will never give up two things, making art and smoking(Image: AFP\/Getty Images)<\/p>\nThe acclaimed British artist David Hockney spoke ahead of his huge new art show in ParisWhilst alive David Hockney will never give up two things, making art and smoking(Image: AFP\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Cheeky grin on his face, a cigarette never far from his mouth, proud Yorkshireman David Hockney<\/a> may have been in bad health recently but you would never know it. The 87-year-old, arguably Britain\u2019s greatest living painter, gave the BBC<\/a> an interview to mark a huge new show in Paris.<\/p>\n Hockney says: \u201cI don\u2019t care how many come, it\u2019s what I think that counts and I\u2019m very, very pleased with it.\u201d Based around his last 25 years of painting it includes more than 450 works as well as some of his most famous works from earlier in his career.<\/p>\n For his part Hockney wasn\u2019t sure he would be around to see it unveiled. He now has two full-time carers, who have accompanied him to Paris from London, where he now lives. But nothing will stop him enjoying the big love of his life which is smoking.<\/p>\n After looking around the show, Hockney says: \u201cI think it’s terrific myself. I am nearly 88 years old, so it should be. I mean, they came to me about two years ago. I started planning it, but I just thought I probably wouldn’t be here. I was 86 and I’m still a smoker, a happy smoker, fed up of bossy people telling you what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Born in 1937 and one of five children, Hockney sold his first painting of his father for \u00a310 in 1957 after leaving school and studying at the Royal College of Art. He knew he wanted to be an artist from the age of 11 and had dedicated himself to improving his drawing skills at art school, although he clashed with some of the posher students.<\/p>\n \u201cI used to go to the art school from nine in the morning to nine at night and that\u2019s where I learn to draw. People would mock my accent\u2026I\u2019d look at their artworks and I’d think, well, if I drew like that, I’d keep my mouth shut!\u201d He says looking back on his youth.<\/p>\n But what would the young boy growing up in Bradford think about the life he’d go on to have and the work he’d create?<\/p>\n “He’d have thought it was pretty daft. I just go on because I’ve always really ignored the money. I want to work every day, and I do, but there’s not, perhaps that many people would do that. I\u2019ve always thought I was rich.\u201d<\/p>\n In November 2018, Hockney’s 1972 work Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) sold at Christie’s auction house in New York City for $90 million (\u00a370 million), becoming the most expensive artwork by a living artist sold at auction at the time.<\/p>\n![\"David](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1_Screenshot-2025-04-09-at-151158-2.jpg\")
David has given a new interview<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0_FRANCE-BRITAIN-CULTURE-PAINTING-EXHIBITION.jpg\")
The new David Hockney show in Paris features over 450 works(Image: AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n