Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)
Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) | |
---|---|
Artist | David Hockney |
Year | 1972 |
Medium | Acrylic on canvas |
Movement | Pop art |
Dimensions | 7 ft × 10 ft (2.1 m × 3.0 m) |
Location | Private collection |
Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) is a large acrylic-on-canvas pop art painting by British artist David Hockney, completed in May 1972. It measures 7 ft × 10 ft (2.1 m × 3.0 m),[1] and depicts two figures: one swimming underwater and one clothed male figure looking down at the swimmer. In November 2018, it sold for US$90.3 million, at that time the highest price ever paid at auction for a painting by a living artist.
Background
Hockney visited
Hockney painted the first of his pool paintings, California Art Collector in 1964, and the swimming pool became a recurring theme in his paintings, such as
Composition
This work brings together two of Hockney's themes from his paintings of the late 1960s and early 1970s: the swimming pool, and the double portrait. It depicts a male figure in white trunks swimming breaststroke underwater, and the painter Peter Schlesinger, Hockney's former lover and muse, fully clothed and standing at the edge of the pool looking down at the swimmer.[4] The painting is set in southern France, near Saint-Tropez.[4] In characteristic Hockney style, the foreground is simplified and flattened with a view of tree-clad hills in the background.
The composition was inspired by a serendipitous combination of photographs that Hockney noticed on his studio floor: one of a man swimming underwater, taken in California in 1966, and the other of a man standing looking at the ground. Juxtaposed, it appeared as if the standing person were looking at the swimmer.[5] Hockney's relationship with Schlesinger had ended abruptly in 1971, following a fight in Cadaqués. "By showing another young man swimming towards Peter, the artist acknowledges lost love and his boyfriend’s desire for a new partner".[6] The painting can be viewed as fitting into a European tradition since the Renaissance of depicting the nude bathing, washing off the stain of pollution amid the peace of nature.[1]
Hockney worked on the painting for four months in late 1971, but dissatisfied with the composition, in particular with the angle of the pool, abandoned the work and started afresh.[5] He then travelled for several months with Mark Lancaster, and returned to the work in early 1972. The year 1972 was a very productive year for Hockney, as he threw himself into his work to escape from his unhappiness, often working 14 or 15 hours a day. Around the same time, he was working on his (unfinished) double portrait of George Lawson and Wayne Sleep (1972-5, Tate).
In April 1972, Hockney flew to the south of France to better visualise the figure swimming underwater, using the pool at film director Tony Richardson's villa at Le Nid du Duc near Saint-Tropez to do so. Hockney's studio assistant, Mo McDermott, recreated the pose of the downcast man, while a young photographer, John St Clair, was the swimmer.[7] Hockney took hundreds of photographs based on his original composition.[3]
Back at his London studio, Hockney assembled the photos along with photographs of Peter Schlesinger taken in Kensington Gardens wearing the same pink jacket.[3][8] Hockney worked on the painting for two weeks, working 18-hour days, completing and varnishing it only the night before it was due to be shipped to New York for the exhibition at André Emmerich Gallery.[3] It was first shown in the exhibition Paintings and Drawings, which ran from 13 to 31 May 1972.[5][9]
Hockney said of the painting, "I must admit I loved working on that picture, [...] working with such intensity; it was marvellous doing it, really thrilling"[3]
The creation of the painting and the breakdown of Hockney's relationship with Schlesinger were featured in the semi-fictional 1974 documentary
Sale history
The painting was originally sold to James Astor and his wife in 1972 for $18,000 (equivalent to $131,000 in 2023
It was included in the Hockney exhibition, which toured the
On 15 November 2018, in nine minutes of bidding, it was sold to an unknown buyer for $90.3 million at
Pop culture influence
- In the American adult animated television series BoJack Horseman a painting in Bojack's house is based on Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures).[20]
- The cover art of the
See also
References
- ^ a b "David Hockney (b.1937), Portrait of an artist (Pool with Two Figures)". Christies. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
- ^ a b c "The bewitching allure of Hockney's swimming pools". BBC. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
- ^ a b c d e "Hockney's Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)". Christies. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
- ^ a b c "The Pull of Hockney's Pool Paintings". Apollo. 4 February 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
- ^ a b c "1972". David Hockney Foundation. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
- ^ M. Livingstone and K. Haymer, Hockney's People, London, 2003, p. 112
- ^ "David Hockney: Early Reflections at the Walker". That's How The Light Gets In. gerryco23.wordpress.com. 27 September 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
- ^ "Gilbey on Film:The truth about David Hockney". New Statesman. 18 January 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
- ^ a b "Hockney painting sells for record $90m". BBC. 16 November 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
- ^ a b 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved 29 February 2024.
- ^ "David Hockney painting sells for $90M, smashing auction records". CNN. 16 November 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
- ^ "Past Exhibitions | David Hockney". www.davidhockney.co.
- ^ "David Hockney's Famed Pool Scene Sells for $90.3 M. at Christie's, New Record for Work by Living Artist at Auction". Art News. 16 November 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
- ^ "David Hockney painting smashes record for living artist as artwork fetches $100 million at auction". The Telegraph. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
- ^ "David Hockney painting poised to smash auction records". CNN. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
- ^ "How record-setting art auctions are ruining the old neighborhood" commentary on The Washington Post
- ^ "David Hockney painting's $28.5m sale smashes his auction record". BBC News. 17 May 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
- ^ Carol Vogel, Works by Johns and de Kooning Sell for $143.5 Million, The New York Times, October 12, 2006
- ^ Carol Vogel, Planting a Johns 'Flag' in a Private Collection, The New York Times, 18 March 2010.
- ^ "Hockney painting sells for record $90m". BBC News. 16 November 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
- ^ "art of album covers". art of album covers. Retrieved 21 November 2018.