David Hockney

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This print of a naked youth behind a translucent shower curtain is based upon the photograph of a sixteen year old boy published in the American magazine, Physique Pictorial. As Hockney discovered, when he visited Los Angeles, the models used by the magazine were local boys, some of them just released from prison, who were persuaded to pose nude in pools and showers for a few dollars. The disparity between the classical ideal presented in the magazine and the real life circumstances of the models perhaps accounts for the ironic title of Hockney's print.

Gallery label, August 2004

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