BRADFORD born artist David Hockney has been awarded the highest honour by the San Francisco Opera.

The 80-year-old, who now lives in California, was given the San Francisco Opera Medal in an onstage ceremony following a performance of Giacomo Puccini’s Turandot on Sunday.

Hockney has had a major presence in the opera world, and Opera general director Matthew Shilvock said: “Since 1975, David Hockney has been a powerful force in advancing opera as an art form. His productions are bold expressions of archetypal emotions, deeply rooted in a strong sense of spatial resonance and scale.

“His productions take us—audiences and artists alike—on journeys that allow us to see our world more clearly.”

San Francisco audiences were introduced to Hockney’s stage work in 1982 with Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, a production that was created for the 1975 Glyndebourne Festival and revived at San Francisco Opera in 1988 and 2000.