Paris Metro bans David Hockney exhibition poster due to artist’s cigarette

David Hockney is about to have the largest exhibition he’s ever had at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, with nearly 400 of his works taking over the entire building in the Bois de Boulogne.  

However, publicity for the upcoming exhibition which opens on 9 April has caused a bit of a stir, as a photograph of the 87-year-old artist holding a cigarette has been banned in the Parisian metro.  

This may seem at odds with the image of the French capital and the cliché of French people stylishly (or louchely, depending on how charitable you’re feeling) chainsmoking Gauloises, but the Paris transport network’s lawyers have reportedly contacted Hockney regarding the ban, citing the cigarette as the issue. All this despite the painting within the image also depicting him smoking.

Indeed, the poster featuring the painting titled “Play within a Play within a Play and Me with a Cigarette” has fallen foul of the French law that states that any form of direct or indirect advertising of tobacco products (including electronic cigarettes) is prohibited.

The Paris transport authorities shared that they have taken issue with the fact that Hockney is holding a cigarette in the photograph. However, they have no objection to the fact that the painting he is holding also depicts him smoking. 

The ban does not sit well with Britain’s greatest living artist, who is a famous advocate of smoking.

He described the situation as “complete madness”, telling The Independent: “The bossiness of those in charge of our lives knows no limits. To hear from a lawyer from the Metro banning an image is bad enough but for them to cite a difference between a photograph and a painting seems, to me, complete madness. They only object to the photograph even though I am smoking also in the painting I am holding!” 

Emphasizing art’s role in free expression, he added: “I am used to the interfering bossiness of people stopping people making their own choices but this is petty. Art has always been a path to free expression and this is a dismal (decision).” 

Exhibition curator Sir Norman Rosenthal also chipped in and called the ban censorship.  

“Madness reigns,” he told The Independent. “To have censorship of this kind with a poster promoting one of the greatest exhibitions of a living artist for a generation is beyond comprehension. Paris is a city of freedom and revolution wrapped into its history – this flies in the face of that.” 

Hockney tirelessly campaigned against the 2005 smoking ban and even appeared at the Labour Party Conference that same year holding a sign that read: “DEATH awaits you all even if you do smoke.” 

In an op-ed published after the smoking ban passed, the artist affirmed: “I smoke for my mental health. I think it’s good for it, and I certainly prefer its calming effects to the pharmaceutical ones (side effects unknown),” adding, “Well, you say, smoking has dreadful side effects. Certainly on some people, but not on all”. 

Writing in The Times last year, Hockney responded to Rishi Sunak’s attempts to restrict tobacco. He wrote: “I have smoked for 70 years. I started when I was 16 and I’m now 86 and I’m reasonably fine, thank you”. He continued: “I just love tobacco and I will go on smoking until I fall over. Like trees, we are all different, and I’m absolutely certain I am going to die. In fact, I’m 100 percent sure I’m going to die of a smoking-related illness or a non-smoking-related illness”. 

This is not the first time David Hockney and metros have not mixed well.  

In 2021, as part of a campaign to promote domestic tourism in the UK, Hockney was invited by London Mayor Sadiq Khan to design the new logo for the Piccadilly Circus tube station.  

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His design for the ‘Let’s Do London’ campaign provoked a wave of negative reactions. “It looks like a contest entry from a toddler:  ‘Design a logo combining McDonalds and Burger King’” wrote one X user, while another commented: “It looks awful, and I genuinely thought a child had done it. And to think of all the struggling local artists that could have really done something great with that commission.”

The David Hockney exhibition opens on 9 April and runs until 31 August. 

Additional sources • The Independent