Self portrait with Charlie (David Hockney; Charles Dare Scheips), 2005

David Hockney is one of the most celebrated British contemporary artists, whose work embraces drawing, painting, printmaking and digital technology. Born in Bradford, Yorkshire, he studied at the Royal College of Art and was a leading figure in the Pop Art movement, before moving in 1963 to California, where he found fresh inspiration, the swimming pool becoming a motif. Self portraiture is an essential thread in his oeuvre.

This self portrait is one of a series of almost life-size figure paintings made in Hockney’s Hollywood Hills studio in 2005, all completed from life in just a few sittings. Hockney worked directly onto the canvas in oils, without photographic reference or preparatory drawings. In the portrait, Hockney explores his fascination with mirrors and the theme of the artist and model. The work sets up a triangular exchange of gazes between the viewer, the artist and the seated figure, his friend and former studio manager Charlie Scheips.

National Portrait Gallery, London. Purchased with help from the proceeds of the 150th anniversary gala and Gift Aid visitor ticket donations, 2007
© David Hockney Photo Credit: Richar Schmidt