A Portrait of Rolf Nelson
Medium: Lithograph in brown, blue and gold with hand-coloring in watercolor on Rives BFK paper
Year: 1965-68
Sheet: 41 1/4 x 29 3/8 inches (104.8 x 74.6 cm)
Edition: 12
Artist’s Proofs: 3 AP
Publisher: Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles
Literature: Scottish Arts Council (63); Gemini (630)
Signed, dated and numbered in pencil, lower edge
Rolf Nelson (born 1935) was an American art dealer from New York. From 1963 he operated his own gallery on La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles, which had a significant influence on the southern Californian art scene of the 1960s, before moving back to New York in 1966. In each impression of this print, produced in a very small edition, Hockney heightened the sitter’s cheeks with pink watercolor.
Auction Results
Sotheby’s New-York: 23 October 2025
Estimated: USD 8,000 – 12,000
USD 6,350
DAVID HOCKNEY (b. 1937)
A Portrait of Rolf Nelson (Scottish Arts Council 63), 1965-68
Lithograph printed in colors on Arches mould-made paper
Signed in pencil, dated 1965/68 and inscribed Trial Proof I
This impression is a trial proof aside from the numbered edition of 12
Published by Gemini G.E.L.
Christie’s New-York: 21 October 2020
Estimated: USD 7,000 – 10,000
USD 8,750
DAVID HOCKNEY (B. 1937)
A Portrait of Rolf Nelson, 1965-68
Lithograph in brown, blue and gold with hand-coloring in watercolor on Rives BFK paper
Signed and dated in pencil, numbered 6/12
Christie’s London: 21 March 2019
Estimated: GBP 4,000 – 6,000
GBP 8,125
DAVID HOCKNEY (B. 1937)
A Portrait of Rolf Nelson, 1965-68
Lithograph in colors heightened with pink watercolor on BFK Rives wove paper
Signed and dated in pencil, numbered 7/12 (there were also eight proofs)