David Hockney publishes his sumo-sized “visual autobiography”, A Bigger Book

David Hockney has created A Bigger Book, a 500-page, oversized tome that the artist says is his “definitive visual autobiography”. Hockney appeared at the Frankfurt Book Fair, where he was the keynote speaker, to launch the book with publisher Taschen.

The “sumo-sized” book spans the artist’s complete career, from his days at the Bradford School of Art through to his recent portraits, landscapes and iPad drawings. “People use the iPad for different things,” he said at the fair. “My mother would have loved it for the crossword. I use it for drawing. The variety of colours and possibilities is endless.”

From his breakthrough 60s paintings and iconic 70s works, to drawings, collages, stage designs, multi-camera video pieces and photo-composites, it encompasses all aspects of the artist’s back catalogue. He also collaborated closely on the production of the book, choosing over 450 works. “I don’t tend to live in the past,” he says. “Working on this book, I see quite how much I’ve done.”

Marc Newson has designed a bookstand to accompany the book, a red, yellow and blue tripod with a clear acrylic top.

A Bigger Book is limited to 10,000 signed copies, including 9,000 Collector’s Editions and four Art Editions of 250 copies each, which come with an exclusive inkjet print of one of Hockney’s iPad drawings. It is available to pre-order now, with publication in November; the Collector’s Edition is £1,750.