Hockney’s Yorkshire tea plea after lift ordeal
AFTER A half hour ordeal stuck in a lift on the way to the opening of his latest exhibition, the world’s most famous living painter had just one request.
Offered a glass of whisky, after being freed by firefighters in Amsterdam, David Hockney reportedly replied: “No, no, a nice cup of Yorkshire tea would be perfect.”
Hockney, 81, was one of nine stuck in the lift at the Van Gogh Museum along with BBC broadcaster James Naughtie.
Hockney said Naughtie had remained “very calm” and after 30 minutes they heard feet on the roof of the lift before catching a glimpse of a fireman’s uniform.
The door “was wrenched back” to cheers from the waiting crowd in the lobby. “Afterwards the firemen gathered round – they wanted a picture with Hockney,” Naughtie said.
The exhibition, which opens today, celebrates Van Gogh and Hockney’s love of nature and shows some of the vast, vivid landscapes celebrating spring and hawthorn blossom which he created while living in Bridlington. Later, Hockney said he was “flattered” to be the focus of the exhibition and felt he was “not as good” as the famous Impressionist.
He said painting kept him going and he was still curious, adding: “When I die it might be another adventure, I don’t know.”
Next stop for the artist is Normandy: “To watch the spring and paint it,” he said.