Name: Gregory Reclining
Brand: David Hockney
Rating: 5 (231 reviews)

Track auction value trend

The value of David Hockney’s Gregory Reclining (signed) is estimated to be worth between £3,450 and £5,000. This lithograph print, created in 1976, has shown consistent value growth, with an average annual growth rate of 3%. This work has an auction history of four total sales since its entry to the market in September 2010. In the past five years, the hammer price has ranged from £3,251 in November 2023 to £7,000 in March 2020. The current average annual growth rate is -3%. This work is part of a limited edition of 28.

Auction Date

Auction House

Location

Hammer Price

Return to Seller

Buyer Paid

November 2023

Sotheby's Online

United Kingdom

June 2023

Phillips New York

United States

March 2020

Forum Auctions London

United Kingdom

September 2010

Christie's London

United Kingdom

Meaning & Analysis

Gregory Reclining is a signed lithograph by David Hockney, produced in 1976 and released in an edition size of 28. In this print, Hockney’s lifelong friend and lover, Gregory Evans, is seen leaning on a heap of cushions in a boldly exposed pose. Executed in crisp contour lines, the bodily posture renders the model relaxed and, at the same time, pensive. With his head turned to the right, Evans looks wistfully at an indefinite point somewhere further before him. Because his reclining body is directed towards the left, the fact that Evans turns his head in an opposite direction suggests his awareness of the artist’s gaze. Although the man appears pensive and immersed in thoughts, it also looks like he deliberately chooses to expose his right profile to the viewer.

Considering the uninhibited exposure of the naked male body in the picture, the portrait can be seen to represent one of Hockney’s boldest takes on the subject of intimacy and same-sex desire. Located against a plain background and at the very forefront of the print, the male body here holds a special presence. Given the minimalism of the scene, the viewer is encouraged to focus attention entirely on the implicit eroticism and intimacy conveyed by the image of Evan’s reclining body. Hockney and Evans’ friendship continues until today and the artist’s extensive exhibition 82 Portraits And 1 Still-life at the Royal Academy in 2016 featured Gregory in a large-size, acrylic painting.