David Hockney: A Graphic Novel

by Monica Foggia (Contributor), Balthazar Pagani (Editor), Giovanni Gastaldi (illustrator)

Dynamic and accessible, this graphic novel explores the complex and multifaceted career of one of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries’ most influential and iconoclastic artists.

David Hockney’s career is highlighted by his continuous pursuit of new mediums, even as he remained steadfastly true to his identity. Told from the perspective of a contemporary and former art college friend of the artist, this graphic biography shows how Hockney’s nonconformity and fierce individualism made him famous while still a student and explores his friendships with other artists.

It illustrates his highly productive years in Los Angeles, where the region’s vibrant culture and extraordinary light inspired his famous swimming pool series as well as his portraits of wealthy Californians. Readers learn about the artist’s experimentations with photography and other technologies; his brave and heartfelt documentation of the AIDS crisis; and his lifelong fascination with color. Finally, it portrays the artist’s mature years, as he embraced digital technology to fascinating and groundbreaking affect.

Highlighting his most renowned exhibitions in museums around the world, this inspirational story comes vividly to life through the first person narrative and the imaginative graphics that express the ways a multitude of styles, themes, and personalities are woven into the life of a prolific and relentlessly creative artist.

Genres: Graphic Novels

128 pages, Hardcover

Published February 11, 2025

About the author

Monica Foggia is a teacher, author, and radio presenter. She is helping produce a graphic novel on the artist David Hockney.

Reviews

[Violeta · Rating 4 out of 5]

This graphic novel is light as a feather, both in sketching and text. Exactly as it should be, considering its theme: a presentation of painter David Hockney’s life and times. It serves more as a starting point for those who wish to delve deeper into the artist’s journey, than as a stand-alone monograph.

I was fortunate to read it together with my friend Charles, whose insightful review paints a fine picture of the book and reflects his generosity. He thinks it is young-adult literature, and I agree, but also rejoice in having things explained nice and easy to the child in me, from time to time.

I thought that the novel’s vibrant images and colors, paired with its sensitive (but rather compressed) narration, paid proper homage to the artist’s signature style. There is a lightness of tone in Hockney’s works, but their themes touch on all the heavy questions that are inevitably pondered throughout a lifetime: relationships, time, loss, nature, pain, love, life’s complexity and beauty. They universally resonate and are so popular because they are comprehensible by all. In one vignette Hockney says to his curator friend that “one must understand in order to enjoy” and the creators of this novel tried to do exactly that for those of us who the white splash of chlorinated water in a Californian swimming pool is the first thing that comes to mind when the name of Hockney is mentioned.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hockney’s use of vibrant, cheery colours inspired this visual interpretation of his artistic journey, which felt upbeat and entirely adequate, if light in content. The painter’s vision and his pick of favourite themes, his desire to explore various techniques, the close relationships that he kept, and his advocacy for gay rights also came across perfectly — if, again, superficially.

Did I realize before launching into this that it was young adult literature? No, and when the synopsis mentions that the graphic novel is “accessible,” it’s not kidding, let me assure you. However, I read this in tandem with Violeta, because I’m that kind of lucky, and as I was grumbling about the impossible lightness of it all, she deftly raised the same lightness to an artistic choice and a thing of beauty, which both are correct, especially with Hockney as a subject.

I enjoyed this enough, but I remember a whole section on David Hockney in Modernists and Mavericks by Martin Gayford that had substantially more meat on the bone, and I hope to return to something similar, one day. In the meanwhile, I need to identify a friend whose kids might love this graphic novel more than I did: there are important messages about being your own person in there, and the way to address it remains lovely.

(So... four baby-sized stars, though three grown-up ones, let's say.)

[Jon Zelazny · Rating 1 out of 5]

Guess I was hoping for something with the insight and aesthetic daring of Lou Reed and John Cale's Warhol tribute SONGS FOR DRELLA, but this wheels haphazardly in and out of Hockney's life, with confusing narration, supporting characters you barely meet before they vanish, god-awful dialogue, and lots of intellectual blather that actually obscures the value of the man's work. As an Angeleno, I was curious about his many years here, and what I learned is he indeed lived here for many years.

[Bailee Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really nice colorful illustrations matching his work to tell his story!

[Jerry Summers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the artwork. Would have liked some artistic samples. Interesting life of an artist and friendships.