Sold for: $27,500

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Vancouver

LITERATURE
David Hockney, That's the Way I See It, 1993, photograph of the artist in the same pose and clothes reproduced front cover
Jake Gallagher, “One Icon, One Detail: David Hockney’s Bengal Stripe Shirt,” Esquire, May 17, 2013

This bronze of internationally renowned British artist David Hockney is part of a series of artist portraits that Joe Fafard executed over decades. This image is based on the cover photo for Hockney’s 1993 book That’s the Way I See It, with Fafard using the artist’s same pose and the same clothes. Hockney’s stance is relaxed and informal, cigarette in hand, looking as if he is about to deliver a witty remark. His eyes are full of intelligence and awareness, and his smile conveys his sense of humour. The artist’s clothes reflect his sartorial sense. As Jake Gallagher wrote for Esquire,

The English painter was one of Pop Art’s proudest dandies, and his use of color and texture in his paintings was only matched by his use of color and texture in his wardrobe…The photos of him working in the studio from the sixties — in his rounded spectacles, knit ties, and striking shirts — are a great reminder of one of modern art's proudest eras.

This bronze carries a spark of living essence that is truly arresting — an essential characteristic of Fafard’s best sculptures. That he conveys this through the stylized and highly textured surface of his bronze is magical.

Also included in this auction catalogue is a fine example of Hockney’s printmaking, Rain, lot 34.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars