David Hockney, O.M., C.H., R.A. (b. 1937)

Opening in 1976, Langan's Brasserie quickly became one of the most fashionable destinations in London. The character of Peter Langan, the culinary expertise of Richard Shepherd and the celebrity of Michael Caine created a heady cocktail of success. Langan, forever restless, turned his attentions to America. He hoped, with the contacts that Michael Caine would be able to call upon, that he could export the Brasserie's success to Los Angeles. In the early 1980s Peter Langan spent long periods of time on the West Coast, attempting to garner support and funds for his new venture.

'You meet some of the best and most of the worst people in the world over here. Beverly Hills reeks of expensive perfume and ambitious insecurity. Why do I want it? I'm damned if I will be beaten, there is still that arrogance of eventual victory in me, a twenty five year old mentally in a middle aged body' (op. cit, p. 72)

Hockney, then living in Los Angeles, painted this large portrait on one of Langan's visits in 1984.