David Hockney, R.A. (b. 1937)

Hockney moved into a large flat in Notting Hill's Powis Terrace in 1962, a home which he could for the first time also use as a studio. Works that were drawn there of people were not considered to be portraits but simply drawings of friends, people who were part of his life. Ossie Clark (1942-1996), a leading figure in the field of British fashion design, was one of these friends. Hockney drew and painted him on many occasions culminating in the important double portrait, Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy, 1970-71 (Tate Gallery). The present drawing portrays one of Hockney's most important sitters at a time when his work had become synonymous with Sixties London.