Something of a David Hockney industry has existed over the last twenty-five years. This period has seen the publication of two volumes of his autobiography, an unauthorized biography and numerous picture books, the production of a film and various television programmes on the artist and, of course, countless reproductions of his work on book jackets, posters, T-shirts, shopping bags, serviettes, and so on. Yet, despite this popularity and, one assumes, the abiding power of Hockney’s work to move people, there is a dearth of substantial studies devoted to him - a monograph and a collection of essays are all that is readily available. Although the artist’s oeuvre to date is not in danger of falling into oblivion, as is that of many of his contemporaries, its significance may well be.