Who was Peter Schlesinger, the man who enchanted and broke David Hockney’s heart?

If a love story had a price, that of David Hockney and Peter Schlesinger could be estimated, at the very least, at 90 million dollars – this is the price at which Hockney’s most famous painting, Portrait of an artist (Pool with two figures) soared in 2018. What figure would it reach now that the painter has left? This painting dates from 1972, it appears among Hockney’s works representing villas, swimming pools, a Californian atmosphere, in the tradition of the most famous of them, A Bigger Splash. Unlike the latter, which only shows a gush of water at the time of a dive, this one represents two men in a landscape which could be Californian or Mediterranean, one in the water of a swimming pool, the other looking at it from its edge. It looks like a villa, it evokes a dream life, but it also tells something of the relationship between the painter and his model.

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Muse and lover

It was in 1966 that David Hockney, who was then teaching in California, met Peter Schlesinger, ten years his junior: the artist was 28 years old, the one who became his model, and his lover was 18. Together, after attempts by Schlesinger’s parents to stop the relationship (they sent their son whom they disapprove homosexuality see a psychologist…), they moved to London where Schlesinger continued his studies, integrated into Hockney’s social circle, drew with him, accompanied him, followed him. And Hockney’s large canvases, from this period, and undoubtedly from all his work, are directly inspired by Schlesinger, show him, capture places, but also feelings in motion. Hockney is fascinated, in love, and his model, his muse, is also a large part of his life. Schlesinger then also becomes the photographer of the entire gang that revolves around Hockney.

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Rupture sur écran

But, during a dinner where Hockney was made to look pale, Schlesinger fell in love at first sight. He falls in love with an artist, Eric Boman. The freedom of his relationship with Hockney means that he begins by admitting the presence of this third man, but quickly understands that he will have to step aside. Yet his love does not weaken, he tries for a long time to win Schlesinger back, but it is a film which will really put an end to their story: A Bigger Splashreleased in 1973 and shot by Jack Hazan, who takes the title of Hockney’s painting. This documentary follows the latter to paint his portrait but ends up recounting the separation of the two men, at work surreptitiously throughout the film which uses the codes of cinema verité, capturing stolen moments, unauthorized moments. The director even paid Schlesinger to make love with another man in a swimming pool. When he sees the finished film and realizes the end of the story and how Schlesinger is already with someone else, Hockney is devastated, and tries to have the film banned in vain: A Bigger splash will be widely seen, becoming a model of intimate documentary, but also one of the cornerstones of the Hockney legend, capturing the great melancholy which then fell on the painter.

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Eternal memory

To forget Schlesinger, Hockney travels, eventually settling in Paris, where he falls in love with a young man, Yves-Marie Hervé, while also having an affair with another man, Gregory Evans, his studio assistant, whom he meets in 1971 and who, after having been his lover for more than 10 years, becomes his agent. Evans will be painted by Hockney more than fifty times. And in 2015, the painter will say, in response to the question, “who was your great love?”: “No doubt Gregory”. As a way of rewarding the longevity of the relationship. But when it comes to intensity, it’s Peter Schlesinger who wins the prize, if only because he broke his heart. And a film, in addition to the most expensive paintings in the world, bears witness to this.