Aging & Wisdom Quote by David Hockney

Hockney’s line lands like a slap at the altar of ambition: chase “greatness” too directly and you don’t expand, you contract. It’s a compact reversal that feels painterly in itself, flipping the expected perspective the way his work often does - turning the viewer’s habits into the subject.

The intent reads as an artist’s warning against prestige culture. “Great” is the word institutions love: museums, critics, markets, legacy-building. It’s also the word that tempts artists into safe, over-engineered moves designed to look important. Hockney suggests that this performance of greatness shrinks the maker. You become smaller because your attention narrows to status: what will be praised, what will sell, what fits the accepted story of Serious Art. The work stops being an exploration and becomes a résumé.

The subtext is almost moral without sounding pious. Growth, in Hockney’s framing, comes from curiosity, play, and risk - the messy, bodily act of looking. Trying to be “great” turns looking into posing. It swaps experimentation for self-surveillance, a constant internal committee meeting about how you’re being perceived.

Context matters: Hockney’s career is a long refusal to ossify. He’s moved between mediums (from painting to iPad drawings), styles, and geographic scenes, often against critical fashion. For an artist who’s thrived by staying porous, “greatness” isn’t a destination; it’s a trap that closes the room.