Hockney poster banned on Paris Metro over cigarette

It might seem a perfect match: the French capital - any mention of which inspires images of Seine-adjacent cafes engulfed by a nicotine haze - and one of the world's foremost advocates of smoking, David Hockney.

- ANDY GREGORY

But despite the artist famously championing the habit he has enjoyed since 1954, a photograph of the 87-year-old holding a cigarette has been enough to put him at odds with authorities in the capital of the nation famous for Gauloises and Gitanes cigarettes.

Next week, Paris will host the largest exhibition of Hockney’s career, curated by Sir Norman Rosenthal at the Fondation Louis Vuitton.

The exhibition, at the Frank Gehry-designed building in the Bois de Boulogne, will showcase nearly 400 of Hockney’s works over 11 rooms spanning his seven-decade career.

But as the artist prepares for his blockbuster show, citizens travelling on the Paris Metro may be unaware of the significant exhibition taking place in the city.

In a development Hockney described as “complete madness”, lawyers for the Paris transport network have contacted Hockney to inform him that a photograph showing him sitting alongside a new self-portrait cannot be used to advertise the show.