In pictures: David Hockney's early work
- Published
Early works by David Hockney have been brought together for an exhibition in Liverpool. We Two Boys Together Clinging dates from Hockney's second year at the Royal College of Art in 1961 and was inspired by a Walt Whitman poem. © David Hockney. Collection Arts Council, London. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates.
The Early Reflections exhibition has opened at the Walker Gallery, where the artist won the John Moores Painting Prize in 1967. The award was supported by the Littlewoods magnate John Moores. Hockney used the £1,500 prize money to send his parents on holiday to Australia. Photos: National Museums Liverpool.
Hockney won the prize for Peter Getting Out Of Nick’s Pool, painted in Los Angeles in 1966. Hockney had moved to California a couple of years earlier and had become known for his depictions of sun-drenched swimming pools. © David Hockney. Collection Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. Photo: Richard Schmidt.
Painted in 1965, Portrait Surrounded by Artistic Devices, shows Hockney's father Kenneth, who worked as a clerk in Bradford. The artist was experimenting with colour, shape, picture depth and geometry. © David Hockney. Collection Arts Council, London. Photo: Richard Schmidt.
This, dated 1966, is titled Two Boys Aged 23 or 24. It is one of 13 etchings Hockney created along the themes of the poetry of the Greek pre-war poet Constantine P Cavafy in the series Illustrations For Fourteen Poems From CP Cavafy. © David Hockney.
This rare Hockney screenprint, titled Cleanliness Is Next To Godliness, from 1965, shows a naked youth behind a shower curtain, based on a photo from the US magazine Physique Pictorial. The Liverpool exhibition has brought together 38 of Hockney's works from the 1960s and '70s for the first time. © David Hockney
This etching, titled Gregory, depicts Gregory Evans, who became Hockney's lover in the 1970s and sat for portraits many times. Last year, an exhibition of Hockney's recent landscapes at the Royal Academy attracted 600,000 people. Early Reflections runs at the Walker Art Gallery until March 2014. © David Hockney.