The painting “Mr. and Mrs. Clark and Percy” by artist David Hockney is unusual in the fact that neither of the human subjects are looking either and one another or out of the painting at the viewer. The perspectives of the subjects make the viewer a third party in eye contact as their gazes culminate at a single point. The subjects are dress designer Ozzie Clark and his wife, fabric designer Celia Birtwell and their cat, Percy. The couple were personal friends of Hockney’s. Clark and Hockney met in 1961 in Manchester and both went on to study at the Royal College of Art in London. When Clark and Birtwell married in 1967, Hockney was their best man. This painting depicts the couple in their flat in Notting Hill Gate, North London and is in their bedroom. The etching on the left side of the portrait is from an earlier series by Hockney and called “A Rake’s Progress”. Hockney actually described this painting as one of two works that came close to naturalism, even though many aspects have been flattened or dulled. He is also quoted saying the aim of the painting was “to achieve…the presence if two people in this room.”
"David Hockney." Artchive. 11 Feb 2009
David Hockney was born in 1937 in Bradford. By the age of eleven he had made up his mind to be an artist and at 16 his parents allowed him to attend a local art school. In place of serving in the National Service, Hockney spent two years working in the hospitals. In 1959 he began attending the Royal College of Art in London. His artistic style is the result of much experimentation and influence of other large names in the artistic society. He denies being a Pop artist, but much of the public sees him this way.
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