Life
Medium: iPad drawing in colors printed on wove paper
Year: 2012
Image: 32 x 23 7/8 inches (81.3 x 60.8 cm)
Sheet: 37 x 27 7/8 inches (94 x 71.1 cm)
Edition: 25
Publisher: The Artist
Signed, dated and numbered in pencil
With the artist’s blindstamp
Among David Hockney’s more eccentric public crusades was his staunch, unapologetic pro-smoking advocacy. An avid smoker throughout his life, the celebrated British artist was rarely seen without a cigarette in hand, famously keeping a secret “emergency” stash of 2,000 cigarettes in his home. The habit became intrinsic to his public image, like a caricature. As anti-smoking legislation swept through Europe in the early 2000s, Hockney emerged as one of the cause’s most outspoken defenders, engaging in public spats with French police and protesting at the 2005 Labour Party Conference with placards reading “Death awaits you even if you do not smoke.”
David Sandison, David Hockney and Joe Jackson supporting FOREST (Freedom Organisation for the right to enjoy smoking Tobacco) at Labour Party conference, Brighton. Image: Independent / Alamy
Executed in 2012, Life captures Hockney’s lifelong ethos in his typical tongue-in-cheek fashion. Designed in the style of a red bistro menu board, the work doubles as a witty visual manifesto against state paternalism. Across the surface, Hockney annotates his defiant philosophy: “LIFE IS A KILLER WE ALL GET A LIFETIME, there is only now This is the case for the anti-smoking fanatics and the doctors + bossy boots + etc etc”. Beside this, a paper slip inside a wine glass declares that such restrictions “are making it all duller and duller”, accompanied by a sketch echoing Edvard Munch’s iconic The Scream to parody the hysterical anxiety of modern health crusaders.
Rather than a solemn political tirade, Life showcases Hockney at his most delightfully irreverent. By channelling his anti-authoritarian streak through satire, the artist transforms a personal grievance into a spirited celebration of individual liberty – pleasure and artistic freedom.
Source: Phillips
Auction Results
Phillips London: 19 September 2026
Estimated: GBP 20,000 – 30,000
GBP 49,020 / USD 65,660
DAVID HOCKNEY
Life, 2012
iPad drawing in colours, printed on wove paper
Signed, dated and numbered 20/25 in pencil
Published by the artist (with his blindstamp)