Intimate sketch by David Hockney could fetch £40,000 at auction

AN intimate pen and ink sketch by Bradford artist David Hockney is coming to the market for the first time.

The sketch, of his partner 'Peter' (Peter Schlesinger) will be offered by Surrey-based Parker Fine Art Auctions.

It was given as a gift by Hockney to his dentist, Dr Brian Sack, whose surgery was based opposite Chelsea School of Art, where the artist was a lecturer.

It has been in the Sack family collection ever since. Inscribed 'Powis Terr' and dated 'Sept 1967', it measures 19.5" x 12.25" (49.5 x 31.1cm) and is estimated at £30,000 to £40,000.

Henny Smith, director of Parker Fine Art, said: “Hockney was teaching a summer class at the University of California in Los Angeles when he met 18-year-old student Peter Schlesinger, who was 10 years his junior.

The sketch (Image: Parker Fine Art Auctions)

"They began a long affair with Schlesinger travelling with Hockney between his homes in Los Angeles and Powis Terrace in London’s Notting Hill.

"Whilst with Hockney, he often modelled for the artist and appears in some of his early works, including Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) which sold for $90 million in 2018 as well as Peter Schlesinger with Polaroid Camera and Peter Getting Out of Nick's Pool.

"Schlesinger went on to pursue his own career as a visual artist creating sculptures, paintings, and photographs.”

Ms Smith added: “The Sack family have decided that it is the right time to sell this work.

"It had been exhibited with Kasmin Gallery, who were one of the first galleries to exhibit Hockney’s work but they closed in 1972.”

Also from the same collection is a miniature book called ‘Six Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm’ which is a miniature book of etchings signed by Hockney as Grimm that is estimated to fetch £500 to £800.

The sketch will go on sale on Thursday, May 9 at 11am at Parker Fine Art Auctions in Farnham, Surrey.

Last October, a sculpture that Hockney gifted to a couple who gave him shelter during a storm 68 years ago fetched a whopping £111,875 at auction.

The legendary artist gave the rare ceramic model to Peter Richards and his wife after they offered him and a pal sanctuary from bad weather in 1955.

The couple owned a cottage alongside the A1 in Bedfordshire, and on a rainy Sunday afternoon, they spotted two young men sheltering under their eaves.

They gave the drenched lads refuge while making them tea and drying their soaked clothes.

Later, they learned the pair were Hockney and Norman Stevens, from Bradford College of Art, who were hitchhiking to London to visit exhibitions.

Hockney, who became one of Britain's most celebrated artists, went on to have a long-lasting friendship with the Richards.