Spring Cannot be Cancelled

by David Hockney

For most of my life there was a city called Leningrad; now it’s called St Petersburg. Leningrad, it turned out, was just a blip, but we all thought it was here to stay. That’s why I was always against communism: people telling you that you should sacrifice the present for the future because it’s going to be terrific. But how do they know it’s going to be terrific? Nobody knows. You have to live in the here and now. It’s the now that’s eternal.

Well, you need a few oddballs. That’s why you need lots of artists, and not just painters but all kinds. They look at life from another angle.

The only real things in life are food and love, in that order, just like our little dog Ruby, I really believe this and the source of art is love. I love life.’

The world is very, very beautiful, but you’ve got to look hard and closely to notice that beauty.

‘Remember you cannot look at the sun or death for very long’,