Hockney For Merit

The controversial New Year Honours List, which includes at least one jailbird businessman and also an ex-ghetto gangster, fails to mention any artist that I noticed. However, as though to make up for this failure, Buckingham Palace has announced that David Hockney has been appointed a member of the Order of Merit by the Queen (title link). He isn't granted a title, but he gets to wear a lapel badge to show he belongs to this exclusive club of 24 members, all of whom have achieved great distinction in their fields of endeavour. Sir David Attenborough is another member of this exclusive club. Above is Emily Port-Salmon's Portrait of David Hockney (2011). Left is Hockney's iPad doodle of a pot of lavender from his show in Paris: Fresh Flowers (2010).