The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of July 13, 2026

A vertically oriented print in black ink on light paper depicts a seated man with light skin, a receding hairline, and curly hair. Thin, sketchy black lines define his loose clothing and features. He has a dark beard and mustache. He sits cross-legged on a wooden chair with a woven seat, holding a dark cigar in his right hand. Handwritten text is inscribed in the lower left corner of the composition.

Portrait of Richard Hamilton

1971

David Hockney

(British, 1937–2026)
England, 20th century
etching and aquatint
Platemark: 34.5 x 26.9 cm (13 9/16 x 10 9/16 in.); Sheet: 55.1 x 43.6 cm (21 11/16 x 17 3/16 in.)
Bequest given in honor of Jane Glaubinger from THE ROLAND-GEIST COLLECTION (Gift of George Roland and Susan Roland Sweezy) 2022.81
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Hockney met British artist Richard Hamilton (1922–2011) in the early 1960s, when Hamilton was teaching at the Royal Academy of Art and Hockney was a postgraduate there.

Description

David Hockney is one of the most versatile British artists of the last century. He excelled in his drawings from life in pen and ink, and became a prolific printmaker, translating his drawing technique to lithographs and etching plates. Hockney and the British artist Richard Hamilton became friends in the 1960s, and Hockney spent several summers at Hamilton's holiday home in Cadaqués, France, the setting for this etching. This portrait represents the period in which Hockney experimented with greater realism and naturalistic use of perspective through such elements as the foreshortened chair and crossed legs.
  • David Hockney (the artist) [1937-]
    George Roland, New Orleans, LA
    The Roland-Geist Collection, Chapel Hill, NC
    March 7, 2022-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • National Portrait Gallery (Great Britain), David Saywell, and Jacob Simon. Complete Illustrated Catalogue: National Portrait Gallery, London. London: National Portrait Gallery, 2004. p. 275
    Hockney, David, Sarah Howgate, Barbara Stern Shapiro, Mark Glazebrook, Marco Livingstone, and Edmund White. David Hockney: Portraits. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2006. p. 113
  • {{cite web|title=Portrait of Richard Hamilton|url=false|author=David Hockney|year=1971|access-date=13 July 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2022.81