The Student

This signed print by much-loved British artist David Hockney is a tribute to Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, it depicts Hockney standing next to a bust of his idol, positioned on an ornate marble plinth. Issued in an edition of 90, it was produced at around the same time as another print in the series – Artist And Model – during a period in which Hockney had been living in Paris. Whilst in Paris, Hockney had taken the opportunity to visit the studios of Aldo and Piero Crommelynck, who had been Picasso’s master printers, producing a pair of etchings in tribute to the Spanish artist who had died earlier in the same year. Despite the similarities of their subject matter – the symbolic depiction of Hockney’s indebtedness to Picasso – both prints differ considerably. In The Student, Hockney depicts himself standing next to a bust of one of his greatest inspirations; carrying a blank canvas, Hockney’s place in the composition suggests him being Picasso’s equal. In stark contrast to the formality of The Student, Artist And Model sees the pair sat together, engaged in conversation. However, Hockney is nude: without the influence of Picasso, he suggests, he would be quite literally denuded of his capacity as an artist.