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A speculative purchase at a Harrogate arts fair has unearthed what is believed to be an unknown pencil sketch by the artist David Hockney. Collector and businessman Nick Yates paid “a few

hundred pounds” for a framed work because the sketch it contained seemed “vaguely familiar”. But it was only when he took it to be reframed that the drawing was identified as a preparatory

sketch for one of the Bradford artist’s most famous pop art paintings. A Bigger Splash was produced by Hockney during his stay in California in 1967, and hangs in the Tate Modern. Yorkshire

gallery owner Steven Lord, who identified the sketch, said the composition was “almost identical” to the finished painting. He said: “On the reverse are further sketches, which is typical of

an artist who is playing around with ideas in a sketchbook prior to committing paint to canvas. “It is signed with Hockney’s rather unusual signature with a greeting so we can assume that

he gave it away as a little memento.” Mr Lord said Hockney’s fascination with “super bright lights of California, after the dullness of Bradford” led him to create the acrylic painting. The

sketch will go on public display in West Yorkshire next week at the Harrison Lord Gallery, as part of the Brighouse Festival, prior to being sent to London for a valuation.