I have to confess Hockney always remained a bit under my radar - I probably thought him too conventional or so， and more importantly， it seems as if the museums I've visited the last 20 years in the various cities around the world didn't have many of his paintings on display。 I really cannot recall seeing a Hockney canvas in real life - although I must have， I'm sure。But when I learned of the Van Gogh & Hockney exhibition in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in 2019 it was as if I was struck by l I have to confess Hockney always remained a bit under my radar - I probably thought him too conventional or so， and more importantly， it seems as if the museums I've visited the last 20 years in the various cities around the world didn't have many of his paintings on display。 I really cannot recall seeing a Hockney canvas in real life - although I must have， I'm sure。But when I learned of the Van Gogh & Hockney exhibition in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in 2019 it was as if I was struck by lightning。 Hockney's landscape paintings of the last 15 years are simply put the best landscapes I know in the history of painting - if you allow me that hyperbole。 This budget Taschen book - 20 euros， like the stellar Basquiat in the same series - is marvel。 511 pages， excellent reproductions and an authoritative， clear text by Lutz Eitel。 This book has been condensed from the SUMO size and ludicrously expensive David Hockney: A Bigger Book， and it is the only career spanning monograph in existence I know of。 There's 2007's Hockney's pictures by Thames & Hudson， but that is very， very low on text。The book is effectively organized as a chronology， starting at the end of the 50ies up onto 2016， and has about 1。5 page text for each year， followed by about 8 to 10 pages of art。 Hockney' full oeuvre is on display: paintings， water colors， drawings， photographic assemblages， stage designs， iPad drawings， etc。The text is full of interesting stuff， and I was unaware that Hockney was the one who discovered the use of lenses by Vermeer， Ingres and Caravaggio in the early 2000s， a important discovery that changed the perception of that part of art history。 The only issue I have - as with the Basquiat - is that the book doesn't include the artworks' whereabouts， although you can guess for some via the credits of the photos at the end。 It does include a list of publications and shows for each year， and each time a full page photograph of Hockney himself too。This book has me eager for more， especially for his work of the last 15 years， although his entire career is humbling indeed。Simply put: a no brainer for any Hockney fan， even if it would cost double or thrice the price。 Taschen has delivered yet again。More art book reviews on Weighing A Pig Doesn't Fatten It 。。。more