David Hockney adored his dachshunds Stanley and Boodgie and let them run riot – so much so that after one had an accident in the LA home of the actor Dennis Hopper, the painter is said to have quipped: “It’ll be dry in the morning, luv, and you can just pick it up.”
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you → adore → it
But Hockney did not just indulge his four-legged companions, he treated them as portrait subjects for a series of paintings, one of which is to be sold by Christie’s.
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one → indulge → Christie
The piece is the first from a series of dog paintings by Hockney, who died in June, ever to appear at auction.
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who → die → auction
“This is such an exciting painting for us,” said Tessa Lord, Christie’s head of postwar and contemporary art.
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Lord → say → art
The painting is titled Dog Painting 17 and shows Hockney’s first dachshund, Stanley, curled up on a cushion, fast asleep.
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painting → title → cushion
It has an estimate of £1.5m-£2.5m and is one of more than 40 works that Hockney painted in 1994-95 for his Dog Series.
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Hockney → have → Series
Stanley, named after Stan Laurel, was picked out as a puppy by Hockney in 1987 and followed him around constantly.
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Stanley → name → him
Boodgie, more reserved, arrived later.
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Boodgie → arrive → ?
According to Hockney’s authorised biographer Christopher Simon Sykes, friends of the peripatetic Hockney were astonished he was getting a dog in the first place.
uncertain
he → accord → place
But they soon saw how besotted he was.
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he → see → ?
The feeling was mutual and the noisy dachshunds soon became an essential part of his busy friend- and visitor-filled life in his Hollywood Hills home on Montcalm Avenue.
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dachshunds → become → Avenue
Sykes in his biography writes that Hockney was not bothered about house training, with one friend, Jonathon Brown, recalling how the dogs used to defecate in his shoes.
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dogs → write → shoes
On a visit by Hockney for dinner at Hopper’s Frank Gehry-designed house in Venice, LA, Boodgie left a “gift” in the middle of the floor.
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Boodgie → design → floor
According to Brown, Hockney did retrospectively wag his finger, telling Boodgie “no, NO!”.
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Hockney → accord → finger
Then, “as Hopper’s look of a chain-gang murderer increased in intensity, Hockney added: “Oah, it’ll be dry in the morning, luv, and you can just pick it up.”
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you → increase → it
Hopper, the story goes, was left with two choices: silence or murder.
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story → go → choices
“He chose silence, but he looked like murder.”
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he → choose → murder
Hockney embarked on his dog paintings when he needed some sunshine in his life.
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he → embark → life
He had lost several friends to Aids and was devastated by the death of one of his closest, oldest friends, Henry Geldzahler, to pancreatic cancer.
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He → lose → cancer
The artist told one journalist he wanted “desperately to paint something loving”.
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he → tell → something
Lord said: “He felt such a loss of love, this was kind of a catharsis for him.”
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this → say → him
Christie’s believes there are only six of the dog paintings in private hands, with the others owned by the David Hockney Foundation.
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others → believe → Foundation
The seller of Dog Painting 17 bought it after the dog series went on display at the LA Louver gallery, a wildly popular show that Hockney said attracted 7,000 people in four days – many with their own dogs in tow.
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Hockney → buy → tow
Lord said the painting displayed “incredible spontaneity” and “fluidity of brushstrokes, but it still feels richly textured.
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it → say → brushstrokes
You’ve got this sort of mottling underneath the cushion and you’ve got that slight flick of the ear that really animates Stanley.”
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that → get → Stanley
She said the painting shone light on an important chapter in the life of one of the greatest artists of the 20th and 21st century.
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painting → say → century
“I love the fact that there is this kind of innocence to it but it is so much more than that.
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it → love → that
There’s a universality to it … it’s so much more than just a portrait of a dog.”
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it → ’ → dog
The painting will be sold on 14 October during Frieze Week, and it will go on display – anyone can see it for free – at Christie’s in London from 8 October.
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anyone → sell → October
The Aporia
