What Did David Hockney Study? The Education of a Modern Master

What did David Hockney study?

David Hockney

David Hockney

David Hockney studied drawing, painting, and various other essential artistic skills during his formal education. His curriculum included compulsory drawing for a term at the Royal College of Art, as well as general studies involving lectures on subjects such as nuclear physics.

His academic journey was interrupted by a two-year period of National Service. During this time, he worked as a hospital orderly, scrubbing floors, rather than attending art school. This occurred because he was a conscientious objector. Once he returned to his studies at age 22 in October 1959, he focused heavily on technical practice, such as creating academic drawings of skeletons that took several weeks to complete.

His formal training provided a foundation in several key areas:

• Drawing and life drawing
• Painting techniques
• General academic studies
• Printmaking and set design

Where did David Hockney go to art school?

Frank Lisle

Explore the art of Frank Lisle – a British painter & teacher (1916-1986) known for portraits, including David Hockney's pupils. Discover his work in collections like The Hepworth Wakefield.

David Hockney attended the Bradford School of Art from 1953 to 1957. Following a two-year gap for National Service, he moved to London to attend the Royal College of Art (RCA) between 1959 and 1962, where he eventually graduated with a Gold Medal distinction.

While at the Bradford School of Art, he was taught by instructors Frank Lisle and Derek Stafford, both of whom were from the Royal College of Art. Before enrolling at the RCA, Hockney had also applied to The Slade, but he chose the RCA because he already knew people attending the institution.

His time at the Royal College of Art was marked by a specific academic milestone in 1962. During his final year, he was part of the ARCA Diploma Class I Painting. He famously protested a requirement to write an essay for his final examination by painting Life Painting for his diploma instead, arguing that he should be assessed solely on his artwork. The college ultimately changed its regulations and awarded him the diploma.

How did his training influence his painting style?

Hockney's training in drawing and painting provided the technical rigor necessary for his later experimental works. His deep observational skills and mastery of draftsmanship allowed him to transition from traditional academic drawing to complex innovations in perspective and color throughout his seven-decade career.

His education helped him develop a sophisticated understanding of art history, which he later used to explore the nature of depiction. This is evident in several ways:

• The use of multiple smaller canvases placed together to visualize large-scale works.
• The synthesis of East Asian pictorial conventions with Western art traditions.
• The study of optical devices used by Western artists from the fifteenth century onward.

This technical foundation supported his ability to work across many media, from oils and watercolours to digital tools like iPads. His ability to manipulate space and perspective is a direct result of the intensive study of form and light established during his formative years in Bradford and London.