Artist David Hockney Takes Center Stage in Smithsonian Doc

NEW YORK: Next month, Smithsonian Channel is due to debut Hockney, a new feature-length documentary focused on the life of artist David Hockney.

Hockney will provide access to the 79-year-old’s personal archive of photographs and films. It will also reveal the personal struggles the artist faced when he relocated from England to Hollywood, among other challenging events that he had to overcome. The two-hour documentary is slated to make its television premiere on Smithsonian Channel on Monday, December 12, at 8 p.m.

Hockney was theatrically released at the BFI London Film Festival earlier this year. The doc is produced by Blakeway and Fly Film Production in association with BBC Arts, BFI, Screen Yorkshire and British Film Company. David Royle and Charles Poe serve as exec producers for Smithsonian Channel.

“It’s been said that there was something of the holiday about David Hockney, that, despite personal loss, he sees the world with holiday eyes, as if for the first time,” said Randall Wright, director of Hockney. “I wanted to capture this attitude without taking away the mystery and magic of a great artist.”