Ronn

David Hockney's "Ronn" (1966) is a graphite drawing on ivory wove paper depicting a young man named Ronn—likely a friend or acquaintance from Hockney's circle. Hockney (born 1937) was one of the most celebrated British artists of the 20th century, known for his brightly colored paintings, his virtuosic drawings, and his mastery of multiple media. This graphite portrait from 1966 belongs to the period when Hockney had recently moved to Los Angeles and was developing the mature style that would make him famous. The drawing shows Hockney's extraordinary draftsmanship at its most refined: the features are rendered with delicate, precise strokes that capture both the physical likeness and the psychological presence of the sitter. The ivory wove paper provides a warm, smooth ground. The portrait is straightforward and respectful, without the conceptual games that Hockney sometimes played with perspective and representation. It demonstrates that beneath all his experiments with form and technique, Hockney was fundamentally a master of traditional observation-based drawing.

Hockney's portrait drawings from the 1960s document his circle of friends and lovers in the vibrant Los Angeles art scene, capturing a moment of cultural transformation with extraordinary technical skill.

This graphite portrait of Ronn shows Hockney's draftsmanship at its purest, the delicate strokes capturing both the physical features and the inner life of the sitter with the economy that distinguishes the master draughtsman.