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Lithograph on Goodman buff handmade paper 16 x 12 in. (40.6 x 30.5 cm.), mounted with a double depth cream mat in maple frame (27. x 23 x 1.5 in. / 71.3 x 58.4 x 3.5 cm.). Signed by the artist and dated 73 lower right in blue pencil. Numbered 32/50 lower left in blue pencil.
This portrait depicts Henry Geldzahler, famed curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Hockney and Geldzahler met at Andy Warhol’s Factory in 1963, and would become fast friends, travelling together throughout Europe. It was Geldzahler who organized New York Painting and Sculpture: 1940-1970 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a landmark exhibition in Hockney’s career.
The curator was close to many New York artists – his circle included Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jasper Johns, Willem de Kooning, and other influential figures in the art world. Geldzahler even appeared as himself in the 1973 Hockney biopic A Bigger Splash.
Here, Geldzahler is portrayed at a three-quarter view, appearing pensive. The austerity of his pose is softened by the thin scarf tied jauntily around his neck. Hockney allowed loose washes of color to pool and drip, then worked into the image, defining Geldzahler’s beard and glasses with precise lines.
