David Hockney ‘Two boys aged 23 or 24’, Etching & aquatint

Medium: Etching & aquatint, signed and dated ’66’ by the artist in pencil

Edition: 25 + 5 APs

Year: 1966

Dimensions: 64 x 51.5 cm

Printed on handmade vellum wove 72 lb Royal paper by J. Barcham Green Ltd.

Printers: Maurice Payne and Danyon Black at the Alecto Studios, London.

Reference: Tokyo 48

This David Hockney print is a perfect example of his pioneering representation of gay identity and sexuality in the early to mid-1960s. His artwork broke taboos in a period when male homosexuality was illegal and such images were often deemed obscene.

For many gay and bisexual people in the pre-law reform and pre-gay liberation period, Hockney’s art was a rare public expression of their lives and loves. It was psychologically and emotionally empowering at a time when the orthodoxy was that homosexuality was shameful and should be kept hidden.

Although Hockney never saw himself as a gay activist, or even a gay artist, he visually challenged the legal and social repression of gay and bisexual men. They asserted the importance of the human rights principle of freedom of expression.