The anachronism implies a continuity between the myths
of hard - drinking artists from different
eras: as if the beer - swilling painters
of the Dutch
Golden Age, the absinthe - addled wretches
of 19th - century Paris, the tough guys
of the New York School, liquored - up and rowdy at the Cedar Tavern, and several
generations of British artists, stumbling out drunk in the late afternoon from Soho's Colony Room Club, could all be imagined in some timeless bar - room.
But Hockney is also an art world - favorite whose carefully observed portraits, optimistic studies in color, and vigorously experimental compositions are as full
of life as they've ever been — and continue to influence
generations of artists at a time when we're seeing a new
golden era of figurative painting.