A TENDER pencil drawing by famed artist David Hockney of his boyfriend makes up the sale of a stunning private collection of works including Matisse, Picasso and Freud.

The star-studded line-up of art has been hanging on the walls of the home of a collector for 30 years and has only now come to light.

It is being sold at Duke’s of Dorchester and is expected to raise well over £100,000.

The £15,000-pound drawing by Hockney shows his boyfriend Peter Schlesinger looking wistfully with his hair flopping over his head.

It is inscribed with the simple words: ‘Peter, Paris 1975 with much love from David H.’ The pair split up in 1971 but Schlesinger is thought to have influenced Hockney’s later work in depicting gay men.

Their relationship was documented in Jack Hazan’s famous documentary A Bigger Splash.

A pencil drawing by Henri Matisse from 1945 and worth £40,000 is also going under the hammer.

It shows a woman in a turban and demonstrates the artist’s ‘fluid, brilliant and original draughtsmanship’.

There are also two limited edition etchings, one by Picasso worth £30,000, and one of a naked woman by Lucian Freud estimated at £25,000.

The unnamed collector is described as having a refined eye for good art and amassed the collection in the 1970s.

The works have been hanging in his home in Wiltshire ever since and are now being sold by Duke’s Auctioneers of Dorchester.

The Hockney drawing is set to fetch up to £15,000 and a second sketch by him is likely to raise a similar sum.

The collector said: “Peter Schlesinger was the subject of numerous drawings and paintings by Hockney, having been his partner for many years.

“That intense knowledge of subject is evident and thereby adds a unique quality."

Guy Schwinge, from Duke’s, said: “It is an outstanding collection of 20th century art.

“The Hockney drawing is a powerful and psychologically penetrating portrait of the artist’s former lover.

“It is one of two we are selling, the other being called Nick and Earl and shows the two men. It is inscribed ‘Nick and Earl with love from David H’.

“The Matisse was acquired by the present owners from one of the greatest dealers of the 20th century, Victor Waddington.

“When they bought it in 1975 it was priced at £6,000.

It is sold with a certificate of authenticity signed by Madame Duthuit, née Marguerite Matisse.

“The two etchings by Picasso and Freud are also very desirable. Freud is widely considered as one of the greatest living artists.

“There has already been a great deal of interest in the sale.”

The auction takes place on April 9.