David Hockney Artist and Model (M.C.A.T. 152) For Sale

Artist and Model is a screenprint created by David Hockney in 1973, as part of the Influences collection. Within the print, Hockney depicts a self portrait of himself sat opposite one of his biggest artistic influences, Pablo Picasso, who died the same year. The print is reminiscent of Hockney’s previous work The Student: Homage to Picasso, which similarly acts to honour the late artist. Hockney has stated his high regard to him, saying ‘I think Picasso was, without doubt, the greatest portraitist of the 20th century, if not any other century’. Picasso’s work has had a giant influence on Hockney, ever since the young artist visited Picasso’s retrospective at Tate Modern in 1960, of which Hockney returned eight times. Since then, echoes of Picasso’s innovative style can be found within the work of Hockney, such as the cubist style of his photomontages.
Hockney masterfully plays with contrasts and dichotomies within these screenprint. The texture of the ground contrasts with the blank spaces of the tablecloth; the simple, one lines sketch of the building outside the window contrasts with the detail of crosshatching on Hockney’s body and the table clothing; and finally, perhaps most contrasting, is the clothed body of Picasso, as he wears his quintessential striped top, with the naked body of Hockney sat opposite him. Whereas Hockney depicts himself as the eager and attentive student of Picasso’s in The Student, here Hockney depicts himself as Picasso’s muse, as Picasso looks at the drawing in his hands to compare to the model sat in front of him. Perhaps rather than as an act of reverence in the previous homage, Hockney places himself alongside the likes of Picasso, within their mentor-student relationship. The juxtaposition of Hockney’s naked body and Picasso’s clothed body invites the viewer to consider the artistic dialogue between the two. Hockney’s presence in the print signifies his engagement with Picasso’s legacy and his own place within the art historical canon.
Picasso was an artist who constantly experimented and evolved his own artistic style, something which can be seen throughout the career of David Hockney, where his artwork style ranges from the colourful and bold A Bigger Splash, to the elegant flowers of his iPad drawings. Picasso left a legacy that acts as a perpetual source of inspiration to an entire future of artists, of which David Hockney is certainly one.