David Hockney

Portrait of Mother II

1985

On loan

Bucerius Kunst Forum (Hamburg, Germany): David Hockney

Artist: David Hockney born 1937
Medium: Lithograph on paper
Dimensions: Image: 512 × 435 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Presented by the artist 1993
Reference: P20123

Summary

One of many portraits done of his mother Laura over the years, this was made at a time when Hockney was exploring alternatives to naturalism (see also Portrait of Mother III, 1985, Tate Gallery P20124). Cubist-inspired, incorporating several points of view in the depiction of the face, it captures the sitter's personality with love and affection.

Hockney's best-known representation of his parents is perhaps the large double portrait My Parents, 1977 (Tate Gallery T03255).

Further reading:Marco Livingstone, David Hockney: Faces 1966-1984, exhibition catalogue, Laband Art Gallery, Los Angeles 1987, [n.p.]

Terry Riggs
November 1997

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