David Hockney etching titled 'Self-Portrait (not in S.A.C. or Tokyo)' – £40,000 at Bonhams.
One proof is currently located in the collection of the artist, another is owned by the Tate Gallery, and a third sold at Christie’s as part of the 2012 Hockney on Paper sale for £32,000.
The artist made the work in 1962 in his final year at the Royal College of Art in London. The subject humorously dances around theme of ‘the ideal versus the real self’. A muscular male nude, who bears little resemblance to Hockney, dominates the image while a much smaller, weedier figure wearing glasses is superimposed over the top.
A previously unrecorded proof, it was offered for sale at Bonhams’ (27.5/25/20/14.5% buyer’s premium) Prints & Multiples sale December 16 with a guide of £7000-10,000 but sold at £40,000.
