David Hockney is considered one of the most celebrated British contemporary artists. Hockney studied at the Bradford School of Art (1953-7) and the Royal College of Art (1959-62). Graduating with a gold medal, he famously wore the gold lame jacket illustrated here to his award ceremony. Another photograph of the artist by Snowdon during the same sitting shows Hockney’s famous work Domestic Scene, Los Angeles in the background (see Snowdon and F. von Hofmannstahl, Snowdon: A Life In View, New York, 2004, p. 145).

Hockney’s work embraces drawing, painting, printmaking, photography and stage design. His first retrospective was at the Whitechapel Gallery in 1970. In 1999 he began hundreds of portraits using camera lucida, on which he published research. In recent years, Hockney has divided his time between Los Angeles and London, and created work using the Brushes iPad app.

Two other portraits of Hockney, by Snowdon are in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery (see NPG P797(25) and NPG x76732).