David Hockney and the German refugee family who became his friends

Sixty years ago, David Juda made his living pouring Champagne for first-class travellers, imagining a life spent serving the world’s elite. Today he still serves them — only now, the vintage is cultural. As CEO of Annely Juda Fine Art, Juda sips Champagne with clients as he unveils world-class art before it’s even a glimmer in a curator’s eye.

“We are going to be mobbed,” he laughs, ahead of the global premiere of 13 new David Hockney paintings — alongside portraits, self-portraits and moonlit landscapes. Those same works drew nearly a million visitors in Paris earlier this year, but London will host something extra: several images never shown in France, giving the capital’s art lovers their first look.

The timing couldn’t be better. This winter’s Hockney opening coincides with the unveiling of Annely Juda’s elegant new Mayfair gallery — its first ever street-level space. Founded in 1968 in a single Fitzrovia warehouse room, the gallery has long been a powerhouse of British and international modern art, championing painters and sculptors well before institutions caught up. Now, at 16 Hanover Square, it finally has a home worthy of its legacy.

That legacy began with David’s late mother, Annely Juda, who persuaded her only art-minded child to leave the Merchant Navy and join her in what would become one of the most acclaimed galleries in Britain. Annely, who was still working at 90, had built her career from nothing after arriving in Britain in the 1930s, fleeing Nazi Germany.

The daughter of a Leipzig textile manufacturer briefly imprisoned after Hitler came to power, Annely and her family first sought refuge in Palestine — “it was the one place you could go quickly,” she later said — before she settled in London. There, she studied fashion design, married fellow German refugee Paul Juda, and raised three children.

“Unhappy in Germany after five years, she was discouraged from coming back to Britain by the Home Office, who even suggested putting us in an orphanage,” recalls David, just a couple of months shy of his 80th birthday. “She did get residency, but never had a British passport — though she did get a CBE in 1998.”

While Annely was learning the art business, her children were adjusting to changed circumstances after their parents’ separation. “I went from a Quaker boarding school to a rough Secondary Modern,” Juda remembers of his Willesden Lane days. “I stood out in my short trousers because my mother said I couldn’t wear long ones until after my bar mitzvah.”

He was, however, already steeped in the gallery world. “I’d go after school to do the mailing and serve drinks at openings,” he smiles. “By 12, I was meeting artists.”

When Annely closed her Hamilton Gallery in 1967, he helped her move out and decided to stay. “I only joined the Merchant Navy to prove I could look after myself — I had no idea what I wanted to do. But helping my mother made sense.”

Together, they secured a small space in Tottenham Mews for £400 a year and launched Annely Juda Fine Art. Their success came quickly, but the real coup was in the 1990s, when Hockney’s London gallerist Kasmin closed his doors. Annely Juda became his new home.

“By then we’d known him for 30 years,” says David. “We used to go round to his house for tea on Saturdays, and he started to draw me in 1972.” Juda has two of those portraits. “My mother looked disappointed when he gave one to me,” he recalls. “But Hockney said, ‘One day you may not be here, and David will have you.’ I thought that was very nice.”

That warmth — both familial and creative — still defines the gallery’s approach. Juda’s roster has included giants like Sir Anthony Caro, Leon Kossoff and Christo, whose monumental wrappings once transformed bridges and islands. The new Mayfair townhouse now matches their scale. “From one upstairs room in a warehouse to this — three floors for us, four we rent out — it’s quite a journey,” Juda says proudly.

He credits his long-time co-director, Nina Fellmann, with shaping the gallery’s next chapter. “Nina started here over twenty years ago as a volunteer,” he says. “She’ll carry the gallery forward when I step back.”

Their new location couldn’t be more strategic. “People used to say Tottenham Mews was too far if they were just passing through London,” Juda says. “Now we’re opposite the Bond Street Elizabeth Line — thirty-five minutes from Heathrow. And for the first time, it will be obvious from the outside that we’re a gallery people can walk into.”

With Hockney’s unseen works on the walls and crowds expected to queue around the block, Juda’s combination of modesty and excitement feels earned. “We’ve always believed art should be accessible,” he says. “But this time, we might actually have to hold them back at the door.”

The Moon Room and Some Very, Very, Very New Paintings Not Yet Shown in Paris will be at Annely Juda, 16 Hanover Square until 28 February 2026.