David Hockney first began painting his dachshunds Stanley and Boodgie in 1995, in reaction to the grief he felt over the death of Henry Geldzahler and many other close friends during the AIDS crisis. With Hockney saying “I wanted desperately to paint something loving. I was painting my best friends, Stanley and Boodge”. During this period, Hockney also started experimenting with aquatint and etching to produce multiples of his dog paintings, which led to the creation of works like Horizontal Dogs.

In the late 1990s, Hockney established a separate print workshop in his Hollywood Hills residence. Here, he worked with his friend Maurice Payne, who would set up the plates so that Hockney could draw straight on them, emulating the looseness of his early dog drawings. The prints in this group typically feature Stanley and Boodgie, two of Hockney's cherished dachshunds, perched on a cushion that serves as the composition's framing element. They are frequently seen napping, which is the only moment Hockney could get them to sit still for a photograph.

David Hockney

David Hockney is a British artist widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in contemporary art. Hockney's artistic journey began in the 1960s when he emerged as a leading figure in the Pop Art movement. His early works featured bright colours, bold shapes, and iconic imagery inspired by popular culture. Hockney has produced work in almost every medium, including full-scale opera set designs, prints, and drawings using technology such as fax machines, laser photocopiers, computers, and more recently, iPhones and iPads.