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The world's most extensive retrospective of David Hockney will open at Tate Britain next year.

The exhibition will offer an "unprecedented" look at the 79-year-old's six decade career.

It aims to show Hockney as an "intelligent and profound interrogator of the essence of art".

Hockney said: "It has been a pleasure to revisit works I made decades ago, including some of my earliest paintings."

He added: "We're looking back over a lifetime with this exhibition, and I hope, like me, people will enjoy seeing how the roots of my new and recent work can be seen in the developments over the years."

'Wonderfully diverse'

The exhibition will take visitors through a chronological overview of Hockney's career, from his first appearance on the public stage as a student in 1961, through to his iconic works of the 1960s and 1970s, and his recent success at the Royal Academy and beyond.

It will include his portraits of family, friends and himself, for example Self Portrait with Blue Guitar 1977, as well as his iconic images of Los Angeles swimming pools.

They will sit with more recent work, such as his celebrated Yorkshire landscapes of the 2000s, work made since his return to California in 2013, and experimental iPad drawings.

Alex Farquharson, Director, Tate Britain said: "David Hockney is without doubt one of Britain's greatest living artists.

"His practice is both consistent, in its pursuit of core concerns, while also wonderfully diverse. Hockney's impact on post-war art, and culture more generally, is inestimable, and this is a fantastic opportunity to see the full trajectory of his career to date."

The exhibition will open on 9 February until 29 May, before touring internationally to Paris and New York.