Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy

 
Source: You Tube (dulwich gallery) Key words: masterpiece clark percy

Do you recognise the painting?

Listen to the guide. Complete the following extracts.


I'm going to talk to you about this painting: Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy by David Hockney.

It's on loan from Tate Gallery.

It's a portrait of Ossie Clarke and Celia Birtwell.

Ossie Clarke was a ___ ___ and Celia Birtwell...

The couple, independently moved down to London, to Notting Hill and they ___ married in 1969.

David Hockney was the best man at their ___.

... you can tell that he spent a rather long time working on it.

and they had to pose for him for a very long time.

He also ___ photographs to work from in his studio...

He said he wanted to capture the tension within their ___ but they actually chose to pose for him in this particular way with Celia standing and Ossie seated.

Usually, you would have the man standing in the position of ___ and the woman being submisive whilst seated with her husband.

... but here we see them divided by their window

... is working "contre-jour" which is when the light source is behind the subject

The  majority of the painting is painted fairly flatly but ...

Now he says he had a lot of ___ with Ossie's head in particular and that he painted Ossie's head twelve times

His __ look very sensual in this work

He has Celia looking out at us very softly but Ossie is looking at us with a very different attitude...

... after Ossie had just got out of bed, he was slouched in a chair, he hadn't put his ___ on as yet

He is giving us a ___ of flowers, the book is laying on the table...

... and other items he includes is one of his own works from The Rake's Progress.

And the couple actually divorced just three years after this portrait was finished

The couple did have two children by that point but the relationship ___ down  due to Ossie's fast living and drug taking.

... and she has remained one of his muses and he paints and draws many portraits of her

This particular work is one of the nation's favourites. Back in 2005 the BBC Today programme held a poll on the nation's favourite painting...

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hi Graham!

I don't recognise this painting. I think I haven`t seen it before.
missing words:

Fashion designer; (She?)... designer; got married; wedding; took; relationship; power; trouble; His __? look very sensual in this work; put his sight? ; a vase of flowers; break

See you !
Hilde
Graham said…
Hi Hilde!

I'll correct you as soon as one of my Pre Int students has a try too.
Montse said…
Graham, I don’t recognise the painting. I have never seen it before. I think these are the words:

- fashion designer
- tester designer
- got
- wedding
- took
- relationship
- power
- trouble
- lips
- bunch
- break
Anonymous said…
Hi Graham,

I'll try don't read the previous post!

The words are:
- Fashion designer
- Got
- Wedding
- Tooks
- Relationship
- Power
- Troubles
- Lips
- Shoes
- Vase
- Break

Javier
Graham said…
OK everyone; here are the answers:

Ossie Clarke was a fashion designer and Celia Birtwell was a textile designer

... and they got married in 1969.

was the best man at their wedding

He also took photographs to work from in his studio

He said he wanted to capture the tension within their relationship...

you would have the man standing in the position of power


Now he says he had a lot of trouble with Ossie's head

His lips look very sensual in this work

... he hadn't put his shoes on as yet

He is giving us a vase of flowers...

but the relationship broke down due to Ossie's fast living and drug taking


That's all folks!
Anonymous said…
Hi Graham:
These are my answers.

fashion designer
.......designer
got
wedding
take
.....
power
travel?
it's
shoes
vase
where

I hope to have some answer good
Have a nice weekend.
Ana
Graham said…
Well done, Ana!

You got most of the answers.

Check my post above for all the answers.
Anonymous said…
Hi, Graham.
This answers<.
fashion designer
textil designer
got
wedding
took relationship
powe trouble
lips
shoes
vase
break

bye, bye


Rosa
Graham said…
Well done Rosa!

You got most of the answers.

Check above to see which ones you got wrong.

Feel free to comment on other posts. Don't wait for me to tell you what to do.

Graham
Anonymous said…
Tuesday, 27 November 2012
Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy

Missing words: fashion designer, got, wedding, took, relationship, power, troubles, lips, suit, vase, broke


Hi, Graham. I would like give my opinion about the critic’s explanation. First of all, I find incredible that this painting is considered “one of the nation's favourites” according to the BBC. David Hockney was a good painter, of course, one of the best British painters of second postwar, but he has another paintings more interestings. By the other hand, we are talking about a nation with one of the more important artistic heritage of the world. If you compare the Hocney's painting with different works which you can see in the British museums, then the favorable Hockney's position (according BBC) is not easily defensible.

Greetings, José Luis profesor
Graham said…
Hi JL!

I'm on the look out for art-related articles or videos to post.

I would like to give my opinion about the critic’s explanation.

First of all, I find it incredible that this painting is considered “one of the nation's favourites” according to the BBC.

David Hockney was a good painter, of course, one of the best post-war British painters, but he has other paintings that are more interesting.

On the other hand, we are talking about a nation with one of the most important artistic heritage in the world.

If you compare Hockney's painting with different works which you can see in British museums, then Hockney's favourable position (according to the BBC) is not easily defensible.


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