Intimate Hockney sketch he gave to his dentist goes up for sale

AN INTIMATE sketch by David Hockney of one of his lovers is coming to the market for the first time, more than half a century after he gave it to his dentist, apparently in appreciation of his services.

Mr Hockney, who hailed from Bradford and found inspiration in the American dream, swimming pools and sunlight, became one of the world’s foremost artists.

The sketch dates from 1967, the year that he created one of his most famous masterpieces A Bigger Splash, in which he captured the shimmering sparkle of a turquoise pool under the intense light of the California sky.

The dentist was Dr Brian Sack, a South African whose surgery attracted many artists in the 1960s as it was near the Chelsea College of Art in London.

He died in 2016, having always treasured Mr Hockney’s gift. His widow, Catherine Sack, said: “I don’t know how good or bad Hockney’s teeth were, but he obviously visited him a few times.”

She added: “Brian was a very good dentist. He was just appreciated.” She recalled him describe Hockney as “a very pleasant, down-to-earth guy”: “Brian really appreciated that because he’d get some people who… were more showy. But [Hockney] wasn’t.”

Inscribed ‘Powis Terr’ and dated ‘Sept 1967’, the pen and ink sketch measures 19.5” x 12.25” (49.5 x 31.1cm) and is estimated to fetch between £30,000 and £40,000.

It depicts the artist’s then partner Peter Schlesinger, in the nude. Hockney was teaching a summer class at the University of California in Los Angeles when he met the then 18-year-old student, who was 10 years his junior.

They began a long affair. Schlesinger appears in some of his early works, including Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), which sold for $90m (£70m) in 2018, breaking the auction record for a living artist.

Asked why she is selling the sketch, Mrs Sack said: “Ican’t appreciate it as much as I used to because of my lack of sight. So I would love someone to love it as much as Brian and I did.”

It will be offered for sale on May 9 by Parker Fine Art Auctions in Farnham, Surrey.