Hockney studied at Bradford School of Art and the Royal College of Art. He first gained attention and national fame even before he graduated from the Royal College in 1962. During his time at the RCA Hockney won a gold medal and the Guinness award for Etching in 1961. He was awarded a prize in the junior section of the John Moores Liverpool Exhibition in 1961 and in the Graphics Section of the Paris Biennale in 1963. Exhibited as a pop artist with a one-man show at the Kasmin Gallery in 1963. He was given a retrospective exhibition of Paintings, Prints and Drawings 1960-70 at the Whitechapel Gallery in 1970. Hockney has been perpetually in the limelight and has gained a reputation for his success in drawings, witty etchings, double portraits and inventive photo collages. A major retrospective covering all aspects of his work was held at Tate Britain in 2017.
David Hockney, OM CH RA (b. 1937), George Harris, 1966
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Pen and ink on paper
17½ x 14 in (43.2 x35.5 cm)
Signed with initials, dated and inscribed George Harris III/DH Los Angeles 1966
Collections: Martin Z.Margulies; His sale, Sotheby’s New York May 4,1993 (222) when bought by the previous owner
George Harris (1949 – 1982) aka ‘Hibiscus’ was an American actor and performance artist who created the psychedelic gay liberation theatre group the Cockettes. He was also the subject of one of the most celebrated moments in the 60’s when he was photographed placing a flower in a guardsman’s gun in an anti -Vietnam march in 1967.The photograph is considered one of the most famous images of the flower power generation.
In 1966 Harris was appearing in an off-Broadway production of Peace Creeps in a cast which included Al Pacino and James Earl Jones. He sat for another drawing for Hockney that year but in New York – a drawing with Sotheby’s New York in 2019.
The original owner of this drawing was Martin Marguiles, the distinguished collector and philanthropist.