David Hockney’s art teacher dismisses him as 'a decorator'

MANY consider him Britain’s greatest living artist - and he’s whipped up a frenzy of excitement with his new show, A Bigger Picture, which opened at the Royal Academy of Arts at the weekend. But one person who remains unmoved by David Hockney's exhibition is his old art teacher, who has described his pupil's latest work as “rubbish” and dismissed the artist himself as "a decorator".

Derek Stafford, 85, taught Hockney at Bradford College of Art between 1953 and 1957. And as the man credited with steering Hockney away from his class-clown pranks, and focusing his attention on painting instead, he is uniquely placed to voice an opinion.

"David has become, well, more of a decorator with all those bright colours," Stafford said in an interview with The Sunday Times. He also criticised Hockney's style of painting in the new exhibition.

As for whether Hockney is on a par with past artistic greats, Stafford observes: "If you do landscapes, then look at how Cezanne did them and his subdued colours... I’m sorry to say that what David does now is rubbish."

Whatever his teacher’s report card might say, it doesn’t seem to have put off the crowds flocking to see Hockney’s latest show. A Bigger Picture has already sold four times as many tickets as the Royal Academy’s Van Gogh exhibition had before it opened two years ago.

In fact, the huge canvasses that make up the collection have proved so popular that the Academy is considering staying open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays and staying open round the clock for the show’s last week in order to satisfy demand. ·