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David Hockney

Romantic Head, 1963

Description

Maker

  • David Hockney, b. 1937, British

Title

Romantic Head

Year

1963

Medium

Graphite and crayon on paper

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • pencil,
  • crayon

Supports

  • paper

Dimensions

Sheet: 63.5 x 52.5 cm (25 x 20 11/16 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Titled, initialed and dated in pencil at lower right:Romantic Head DH 63

Type

  • Works on Paper,
  • Drawings and Watercolors

Credit

Bequest of Richard Brown Baker

Object Number

2009.92.142

About

Refined contours begin to outline a torso and imply a bare chest. A hand at the throat guides the viewer’s eye to a face in shadow with full pink lips. The gestural coloring of the face is abruptly contained by a vivid pink diagonal line. In the lower right corner an inscription reveals an earlier title, now crossed out: Half a Head. Romantic Head, a portrayal of tenderness captured with great economy of means, is among David Hockney’s earliest figurative works introducing what was then the still taboo subject of homosexuality.

Titled, initialed and dated in pencil at lower right:Romantic Head DH 63

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Projects & Publications

Publications

Get There First, Decide Promptly

The Richard Brown Baker Collection of Postwar Art

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Made in the UK

September 23, 2011 - January 8, 2012

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in Copyright. This object is Romantic Head with the accession number of 2009.92.142. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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