Spectacular Spectacle Portrait

Optometrist and glasses-maker OV Jack Lupton (Os 12-14) has become the latest subject for the world-renowned artist, David Hockney.

Jack is one of only a handful of UK-based spectacle makers and is currently based in London. He was asked to sit for the artist after making him several pairs of glasses, describing the experience as “pretty phenomenal” and “a pinch me moment”.

The painting of Jack has been housed at London’s Serpentine Gallery for the David Hockney: A Year in Normandie and Some Other Thoughts about Painting exhibition, which runs until 23 August 2026.

Jack makes Hockney a pair of glasses every few months, and explained, “He just asked me at the end of last year if I would consider sitting for him to paint me and I couldn’t say yes quick enough.

“I sat for two days in December in his studio in London. There was music on the whole time, it was a collection of French jazz and classical, and it was just fascinating.”

World-renowned artist Hockney is considered one of the key figures in the 1960s Pop art movement. His most iconic works include A Bigger Splash (1967), Portrait of an Artist (1972), Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy (1971), and A Bigger Grand Canyon (1998).