Fred and Marcia Weisman look unhappy. The artist sets them among their sculptures, standing apart and looking in different directions. Fred clenches a fist so fiercely he appears to be dripping paint; Marcia grins, her mouth mirroring that of the totem in the grass behind her.
If David Hockney’s portrait of this couple—the 1968 painting American Collectors (Fred and Marcia Weisman), on view through Feb. 25 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s retrospective of the artist’s work in his 80th year—is unkind to its subjects, it shows great deference to their house, their collection, their environment. The painting is a tease of textures and patterns, set against a depthless sky. The concrete yard and slatted shades are short plays of precision; sculptures by William Turnbull and Henry Moore are portrayed delicately, their materials (stone, bronze) carefully brushed into being; a potted plant sits just off the grey wall, framing a stripe of blue day. These are not details of derision, but of doting affection. If the Weismans’ relationship seems unappealing in Hockney’s rendering, their world is rather lovely; it’s no wonder the couple purchased the painting upon its completion, more than a decade before they divorced.
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