David Hockney, R.A. (b. 1937)

The present work is a study for French Shop, an oil of the same date. In discussing the oil Hockney comments, 'French Shop is located near the small French spa town of Miers, one of those little French towns where, occasionally, when they build a shop, they try and blend it in with the old ones ... The austere façade was enriched by homely little touches: the multi-coloured plastic string curtain and the casual-looking yet symmetrically-placed plant in between the doors. Everything seemed to be on the correct scale' (see D. Hockney, David Hockney by David Hockney, London, 1976, pp. 241-42).