The Arrival dates from the important moment in the early 1960s when Hockney established his repuatation.

This is a very rare work that was never editioned or published. According to the artist's studio no more than two impressions exist.

Previously unrecorded, it clearly relates to Hockney's most famous early print series, The Rake's Progress, and specifically a different version of this subject that was included in the published series.

This print firmly establishes Hockney's autobiographical treatment of Hogarth's famous prints.

At the centre of the work is a self portrait, with Hockney in his trade mark glasses. His identity is emphasised by the case he holds with its prominent DH initials, a detail omitted from the published plate of the Rake's arrival. The skyscrapers suggest that he has set foot, for the first time, in New York, directly referenceing Hockney's first visit to America in 1961.

Above the print is a drawing in Hockney's typical loose style of the period. A stylised head with a mouth open in speech declares Young Contemporaries, a reference to one of the most important exhibitions of the period, in which Hockney exhibited and established his initial reputation.