In the early 2000s David Hockney (b.1937) was a regular visitor to the Villa Maresi on Lake Como.
It was one of the homes belonging to Drue Heinz, widow of Henry John Heinz II, president of the omnipresent food company, who died in 2018 at the age of 103. She was known as a philanthropist and passionate patron of the arts.
She regularly welcomed artists and celebrities to her Italian villa and as a token of gratitude Hockney not only drew several portraits of his hostess (two of them now in the National Portrait Gallery) but he also presented her with several watercolours with views from the Villa Maresi.
One of them, the 12 x 16in (31 x 41cm) watercolour sketch On Lake Como, found its way to Geble (20% buyer’s premium) in Radolfzell for the sale on October 8.
It was dated Sept. 03, bore Hockney’s initials and his handwritten dedication to Heinz. At some time, she gave the watercolour to her driver and caretaker at the villa; it later came into the possession of a German collector.
On auction day it was knocked down to a US Hockney collector for the guide of €120,000 (£104,350).
£1 = €1.15
