Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy

Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy is a painting by the British artist David
Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy
Hockney. Painted between 1970 and 1971, it depicts the fashion
designer Ossie Clark and the textile designer Celia Birtwell shortly
after their wedding at which Hockney was Clark's best man. Hockney
and Clark had been friends since the early 1960s. One of their cats sits
on Ossie's knee (the cat in the painting was not in fact Percy — this
was the name of one of their other cats — but Hockney thought Percy
made a better title than Blanche, the cat he painted). The work is in
acrylic on canvas, and measures 2170 x 3084mm in its frame. The
painting featured in the final 10 of theGreatest Painting in Britain Vote
in 2005, the only work by a living artist to do so. The painting is in the
collection of the Tate Gallery.
Artist David Hockney
Year 1970–1971
Symbolism
Medium acrylic paint, canvas
Hockney drew on both The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck and A Dimensions 304.8 cm (120.0 in) × 213.4 cm
Rake's Progress by William Hogarth in the symbolism and (84.0 in)
composition of the painting. A copy of Hockney's own interpretation
Location Tate Britain, United Kingdom
of A Rake's Progress is seen on the wall. The positions of the two
Identifiers Art UK artwork ID: mr-and-mrs-
figures are reversed from the Arnolfini Portrait with the conclusion
clark-and-percy-199280
that Birtwell is the assertive partner. The lilies next to Birtwell, a
[edit on Wikidata]
symbol of female purity are also associated with depictions of the
Annunciation (at the time of the portrait Birtwell was pregnant). The cat on Clark's lap is a symbol of infidelity and envy. In this case,
Clark continued to have affairs which contributedto the breakdown of the marriage in 1974.

References
Tate Online Accessed 21 June 2006.

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This page was last edited on 8 September 2017, at 01:17.

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