Peter Schlesinger
American sculptor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Peter Schlesinger (born April 2, 1948 in Los Angeles, California)[1] is an American artist, author, and former artist's model who was the subject of numerous notable canvases by the British painter David Hockney (1937–2026).
Biography
Peter Schlesinger was an 18-year-old student at UCLA when he met the then 28-year-old artist David Hockney, who was teaching a summer class at the university. They began a long affair; Schlesinger relocated with Hockney to London[when?], where he subsequently undertook to study at the Slade School of Art.[2] Whilst in a relationship with Hockney, he was often the artist's subject and muse; he appears in some of Hockney's best-known works, including Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) (1972),[3] Peter Schlesinger with Polaroid Camera, and Peter Getting Out of Nick's Pool.[4][5] In 2018, Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) sold for over $90 million, setting the monetary record for a painting by a living artist.
Schlesinger went on to pursue his own career as a visual artist, creating sculptures, paintings, and photographs.[6]
Books
His photography is the subject of two volumes for which he also wrote the text; A Chequered Past (2003, Thames and Hudson)[7] and Peter Schlesinger: A Photographic Memory 1968–1989 (2015, Damiani; co-authored with Hilton Als).[8][9]
Personal life
The 1974 film A Bigger Splash (named after Hockney's famous painting) is about the breakup of Schlesinger's relationship with Hockney.
Schlesinger's later partner was the Swedish photographer Eric Boman, with whom he shared a home in Bellport on Long Island.[10]