David Hockney: Revolutionary

Of all the liberating pop icons of the swinging sixties there was only one who was so nonchalantly gay. John Lennon enjoyed cracking homophobic jokes, Monty Python included gay stereotypes among their silly voices, but Hockney in the early sixties was painting scenes of gay life with zero self-consciousness. There’s a story in the film about how he once had a stack of male nude magazines seized by customs. He refused to accept their judgment, protested and mocked and eventually hired a lawyer until his magazines were delivered to his door in a bag labelled “On Her Majesty’s Service”. When Lord Snowdon showed him round Kensington Palace he refused to sign the visitors’ book because “I don’t want my name in there come the revolution!”

Jonathan Jones profiles David Hockney in The Guardian. 

With Randall Wright's documentary, Hockney, now on release, Fagburn gets the distinct feeling this won't be the least we hear about David in the weekend newspapers.

'By 'eck, 'e's a bloomin' national treasure...' etc.

PS And here's a fun-packed BBC interactive timeline thing.