David Hockney’s Early Morning, Sainte-Maxime (1969) will highlight Christie’s 20th / 21st Century evening sale in London on October 13. Depicting a sublime view in the South of France it is a tribute to Hockney’s emotional state at the height of his relationship with Peter Schlesinger and anticipates some of the artist’s greatest works. The estimate is £7,000,000-10,000,000.
This is one of four paintings based on photographs taken during a trip to France with Hockney’s then partner in autumn 1968. It was at this time that the pair first spent time in the home of the film director, Tony Richardson, near Saint Tropez. They became regular guests at the lavish parties Richardson threw at ‘Le Nid du Duc’, set in the mountains just outside Le Garde-Freinet. Hockney had returned to London in 1968 after spending four years in California. The South of France became an instant draw for him and Schlesinger and would come to play a central role in their relationship. It was Richardson’s home that became the setting for his masterpiece Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) when the relationship ended in 1971.