The Secret Life of Hockney's Beverly Hills Housewife
Taking David Hockney’s painting of arts patron Betty Freeman as his subject, James Cahill tells the engrossing story of two friends who shaped the cultural landscape of 1960s Los Angeles.
In 1966, artist David Hockney started work on a significant painting called "Beverly Hills Housewife," capturing arts patron Betty Freeman in her garden. The image features Freeman in a pink dress, looking out over a modernist house bordered by blue sky and green grass. Surrounding her are trinkets of wealth, such as a William Turnbull sculpture, a zebra-skin lounge by Le Corbusier, and an antelope head mounted on the wall. Freeman's expression appears reflective as she gazes beyond the boundary of the canvas.
James Cahill, a critic and novelist, uses this painting as a starting point for his book, "The Beverly Hills Housewife: Hockney’s Californian Muse and the World Beyond the Pool" (2026). Cahill delves into the intertwined lives of Hockney and Freeman while also offering a brief glimpse into 1960s Los Angeles. He oscillates between close examination of the artwork, historical narratives, and conjectures about the wider culture.
Sometimes, his detours stray away from the main theme, yet they still make for an enjoyable and engaging exploration of the friendship between these two influential figures in shaping Los Angeles' cultural scene. A photograph of Hockney and Freeman at Freeman's residence on November 15, 1987, is included in the book, courtesy of the Special Collections & Archives at the UC San Diego Library.
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