Treasured Memories of David Hockney at SF Opera

San Francisco Classical Voice looks back on David Hockney’s lasting connection to San Francisco Opera following the British artist’s death on June 11, 2026, at the age of 88. Hockney is widely remembered for his brilliant paintings, Los Angeles swimming pool scenes, portraits, and restless visual experimentation, but the opera stage was also an important part of his artistic legacy. His relationship with San Francisco Opera began in 1982, when he designed the sets and costumes for The Rake’s Progress, bringing his bold color, sharp sense of space, and theatrical imagination into the opera house. Hockney’s work with the company later included productions such as The Magic Flute, Turandot, and Tristan und Isolde, leaving a lasting mark on the visual memory of San Francisco Opera. His contribution was not simply decorative. He used color, perspective, scale, and movement to connect visual art with music and drama. SFCV’s remembrance offers a chance to revisit a side of Hockney’s career that may be less familiar to general audiences: an artist who treated the stage as a living canvas and turned opera into a space where image, sound, and imagination could meet.

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