DAVID HOCKNEY’S famous painting, Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy, went on display at the Walker Art Gallery yesterday.
The work, which was shortlisted for the Greatest Painting in Britain title by Radio Four listeners, shows a married couple and one of their cats.
Hockney is one of the UK’s most celebrated living artists and painted the work during 1970 and 1971 after being Ossie Clark’s best man.
The artist struggled with the painting for nearly a year, re-working Clark’s head as many as 12 times.
He wanted to capture the couple’s complex and unconventional relationship, along with its tensions.
The marriage did not last, which Hockney has often blamed on the painting.
It is on loan to the Walker until late January, 2010.
