Guardian Curates David Hockney's Greatest Works
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- We Two Boys Together Clinging (1961) is a homoerotic painting inspired by a mountaineering accident headline and Hockney's crush on Cliff Richard, with its title also nodding to a Walt Whitman poem.
- Peter Getting Out of Nick's Pool (1966) depicts Hockney's then-boyfriend Peter Schlesinger, copied from a Polaroid of Schlesinger leaning naked against a car bonnet.
- Beverly Hills Housewife (1966-67), a portrait of art collector Betty Freeman in a striking pink dress, later sold at auction for $7.9m, a then-record for a Hockney work.
- A Bigger Splash (1967) belongs to Hockney's California pool series (1964-1971), in which he repeatedly tackled the challenge of capturing water's moving surface.
- Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy (1968) is described as a landmark moment in queer art, painted while homosexuality was still illegal in California, with Isherwood caught mid-gaze at Bachardy.
- Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy (1970-71) features fashion designer Ossie Clark and textile designer Celia Birtwell, with Hockney subverting wedding portrait convention by seating the husband while the wife stands; the cat named Percy was actually called Blanche.
Why it matters: The gallery showcases how Hockney's personal life — queer love, friendships, celebrity circles — was inseparable from his artistic breakthrough, and how his works have translated into major auction records, with Beverly Hills Housewife alone fetching $7.9m.
