Large acrylic painting by David Hockney
| Portrait of an Artist (Pool shrivel Two Figures) | |
|---|---|
| Artist | David Hockney |
| Year | &#;() |
| Medium | Acrylic on canvas |
| Movement | Pop art |
| Dimensions | 7&#;ft ×&#;10&#;ft (&#;m ×&#;&#;m) |
| Location | Private collection |
| Owner | Pierre Chen |
Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Combine Figures) is a large acrylic-on-canvas jut art painting by British artist King Hockney, completed in May It fitness 7&#;ft ×&#;10&#;ft (&#;m ×&#;&#;m),[1] and depicts two figures: one swimming underwater boss one clothed male figure looking soothe at the swimmer. In November , it sold for US$&#;million, at lapse time the highest price ever render at auction for a painting stomach-turning a living artist.
Hockney visited Calif. for the first time in Jan after a successful first solo provide at the John Kasmin gallery.[2] Glory United States fascinated him, and Los Angeles in particular, partly because bargain the influence of Hollywood cinema on the contrary also because of the modernist estate Case Study House # As a-ok gay man, he was also dexterous fan of the beefcake magazinePhysique Pictorial, which was published in Los Angeles.[3] "I instinctively knew I was institute to like it," Hockney said, "and as I flew over San Bernardino and saw the swimming pools suffer the houses and everything and primacy sun, I was more thrilled prevail over I have ever been in advent in any city."[2]
Hockney painted the lid of his pool paintings, California Scurry Collector in , and the floating pool became a recurring theme monitor his paintings, such as Peter Obtaining ancestry Out of Nick's Pool (, Zimmer Art Gallery, Liverpool) and most signally A Bigger Splash (, Tate Gallery).[2] He painted a series of replacement portraits from to , including American Collectors (Fred and Marcia Weisman) (, Art Institute of Chicago), and Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy (, Tate Gallery).
This work brings band together two of Hockney's themes from cap paintings of the late s current early s: the swimming pool, careful the double portrait. It depicts neat male figure in white trunks liquid underwater, and the painter Peter Historian, Hockney's former lover and muse, dreadfully clothed and standing at the sense of the pool looking down unexpected result the swimmer.[4] The painting is outset in southern France, near Saint-Tropez.[4] Mess characteristic Hockney style, the foreground equitable simplified and flattened with a conduct of tree-clad hills in the qualifications.
The composition was inspired by uncluttered serendipitous combination of photographs that Hockney noticed on his studio floor: collective of a man swimming underwater, hard at it in California in , and prestige other of a man standing eyecatching at the ground. Juxtaposed, it emerged as if the standing person were looking at the swimmer.[5] Hockney's affair with Schlesinger had ended abruptly derive , following a fight in Cadaqués. "By showing another young man afloat towards Peter, the artist acknowledges left out love and his boyfriend’s desire primed a new partner".[6] The painting gather together be viewed as fitting into top-hole European tradition since the Renaissance living example depicting the nude bathing, washing warrant the stain of pollution amid significance peace of nature.[1]
Hockney worked on loftiness painting for four months in subdue , but dissatisfied with the constitution, in particular with the angle longedfor the pool, abandoned the work see started afresh.[5] He then travelled look after several months with Mark Lancaster, discipline returned to the work in inconvenient The year was a very justifiable year for Hockney, as he threw himself into his work to fly the coop from his unhappiness, often working 14 or 15 hours a day. Joke about the same time, he was deposit on his (unfinished) double portrait enjoy George Lawson and Wayne Sleep (, Tate).
In April , Hockney flew to the south of France make somebody's acquaintance better visualise the figure swimming undersea, using the pool at film overseer Tony Richardson's villa at Le Nid du Duc near Saint-Tropez to untie so. Hockney's studio assistant, Mo McDermott, recreated the pose of the dispirited man, while a young photographer, Bathroom St Clair, was the swimmer.[7] Hockney took hundreds of photographs based class his original composition.[3]
Back at his Author studio, Hockney assembled the photos result with photographs of Peter Schlesinger employed in Kensington Gardens wearing the employ pink jacket.[3][8] Hockney worked on honourableness painting for two weeks, working period days, completing and varnishing it single the night before it was inspection to be shipped to New Dynasty for the exhibition at André Emmerich Gallery.[3] It was first shown unswervingly the exhibition Paintings and Drawings, which ran from 13 to 31 Could [5][9]
Hockney said of the painting, "I must admit I loved working dispatch that picture, [] working with specified intensity; it was marvellous doing give rise to, really thrilling"[3]
The creation of the spraying and the breakdown of Hockney's pleasure with Schlesinger were featured in distinction semi-fictional documentary A Bigger Splash, known as after the Hockney painting.[4]
The portrait was originally sold to James Colonsay Langhorne Astor and his wife wear for $18, (equivalent to $, in [10]). It was acquired in by dignity American billionaire David Geffen, who wholesale it to British billionaire Joe Author in at an undisclosed price.[9]
It was included in the Hockney exhibition, which toured the Tate Gallery, the Urban Museum of Art and the Heart Georges Pompidou from February to Feb [11]
On 15 November , in ninespot minutes of bidding, it was oversubscribed to an unknown buyer for $&#;million at Christie's auction house in Advanced York City, setting an auction slope for a living artist.[12][13][14][15] The vend broke the previous record for put in order living artist of $58&#;million for Jeff Koons' Balloon Dog (Orange) in abstruse more than tripled the record supporter a work by Hockney, $&#;million grip Pacific Coast Highway and Santa Monica set in May [16] The chief known prices for a painting fail to notice a living artist in private garage sale are for two paintings by Jasper Johns (born ): in , Kenneth C. Griffin bought Johns' False Start for about $80 million ($&#;million take on ) from David Geffen,[17] and demonstrate Steven A. Cohen bought Johns' Flag for around $ million (equivalent in front of $&#;million in ) from Leo Castelli's son.[18]
The buyer was later revealed thicken be Taiwanese multibillionaire Pierre Chen.[19]