British-born artist David Hockney first came across the work of the modern Greek poet Constantine P. Cafavy (1863-1933) while attending college in the early 1960s. He was particularly fascinated with Cafavy's themes of gay love and desire, which recalled nostalgic memories of the poet's fleeting erotic encounters while living in Alexandria, Egypt during a time when homosexuals were forced to hide their activities. Hockney's homage to Cafavy features 12 full-page etchings based on drawings Hockney made from life. These spare and lyrical prints are not literal illustrations of the poems, but rather evocations of the artist's own transitory sexual encounters.