12/06/2026
For many years, David was a familiar face at Green & Stone; a loyal customer, a friend of the business, and someone whose wit was every bit as distinctive as his artistic vision.
My own memories of David are those of childhood and, as such, are somewhat indistinct. The clearer picture has been assembled through the stories of others, particularly my father Rodney, who ran Green & Stone before me, and my stepmother Marinka, who modelled for David in the 1960s. Through their recollections, he emerges not simply as one of Britain’s great artists, but as a deeply curious, mischievous and engaging human being.
The measure of an artist is not only found in galleries and museums, but in the way they alter how we see the world. Hockney achieved this perhaps more successfully than any artist of his generation. He taught us to look harder at colour, light, landscape and one another. In doing so, he quietly expanded our understanding of what painting could be.
His work remains so embedded in our visual culture that it is difficult to imagine a world untouched by it. We will continue to encounter traces of David in the shifting light of a Yorkshire morning, in the startling blue of a swimming pool, in draughtsmanship, and in the simple act of paying attention.
For those of us at Green & Stone, it has been a privilege to have known him, however modestly, and to have occupied a small place in the long story of his remarkable life.
Vive le sausage dog.
Goodnight David.
words from Hester Baldwin
Image: artsthroughthelens Mark Ellidge ©️
