Rare sale of David Hockney painting of beloved dog Stanley could fetch £2.5m

Exclusive: Dog Painting 17 is believed to be one of only six of works from Dog Series in private hands and first to be auctioned

David Hockney adored his dachshunds Stanley and Boodgie and let them run riot – so much so that after one had an accident in the LA home of the actor Dennis Hopper, the painter is said to have quipped: “It’ll be dry in the morning, luv, and you can just pick it up.”

But Hockney did not just indulge his four-legged companions, he treated them as portrait subjects for a series of paintings, one of which is to be sold by Christie’s.