David Hockney
(1961)

The next painting was completed towards the end of Hockney's second year at the Royal College of Art at a time when homosexuality was still illegal in England. The painting derives its imagery from a poem of the same title by the nineteenth-century American writer, Walt Whitman: two lines of the poem have been scribbled on the right-hand side to offer a commentary on the men's activities. The painting also references a newspaper clipping detailing a climbing accident ('Two Boys Cling to Cliff all Night'), which Hockney interpreted as an allusion to his idol, Cliff Richard.

https://artscouncilcollection.org.uk/artwork/we-two-boys-together-clinging

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Two_Boys_Together_Clinging

We Two Boys Together Clinging
1961
Oil on board
120 x 150 cm
Arts Council Collection, London
https://artscouncilcollection.org.uk/artwork/we-two-boys-together-clinging