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), Vera Russell, 1978
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Pen on paper,14 x 17 in (35.5 x 43.2 cm)
Dedicated 'For Vera/with much love/David/Dec 30,1978'
Collections: Vera Russell and thence by descent to the present day
Hockney described Vera Russell as ‘’a wonderful woman … a real art groupie -she loves art and she loves artists. And I love her. A lot of people think she’s a bit tough … But she’s terrific. She ran that Artist’s market in a kind of strange way because she felt artists should sell their work to people who want it, people who like it’’ ( Christopher Sykes Hockney: The Biography volume 1, p.170).
Vera Russell (1911 – 1992) had a colourful life. Born in Russia (nee Poliakoff) she escaped St Petersburg during The Revolution, trained as a ballerina and then became a Shakespearean actor performing alongside Laurence Olivier and John Geilgud and starring in a film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. By the time of The War she was a BBC journalist in Paris where she knew Picasso who painted her portrait then and again in the ‘50’s.
After The War Russell became a prominent figure in the art world as dealer, writer and exhibition organiser. Her third husband was the well- known art critic John Russell.
Correspondence testifies to the warm friendship between her and David Hockney and besides this magisterial drawing Vera also features as the figure walking in Hockney’s etching Homage to Michelangelo. Hockney was supportive of the Covent Garden Artist’s market a scheme Russell founded in the 70’s to promote contemporary art.