• David Hockney is captivated by water, finding endless insiration in the challenge of depicting an ultimately colourless and formless object....

    David Hockney is captivated by water, finding endless insiration in the challenge of depicting an ultimately colourless and formless object. He took inspiration from Leonardo da Vinci’s swirling aquatic studies, Monet’s water lilies and, of course, Matisse’s cut-out masterpiece, La Piscine (1952). Whether in paint, ink, graphite or photography, swimming pools provided Hockney with an opportunity to explore this elusive theme.

     

    He produced his first series of pool paintings in the 1960s following a visit to California, the best known being A Bigger Splash (1967) now housed at the Tate, London. While in California, Hockney was surprised by the prevalence of swimming pools; in England, a private pool was the height of luxury, but in LA they served as a necessary antidote to the heat.

     

  • Hockney is unquestionably one of the most important artists that Britain has ever produced. For eight decades he has been an unstoppable juggernaut, charting his own unique course through our visual culture. His work is tremendously sought-after, particularly images featuring his signature motif of the swimming pool. 

     

    Discover Three Iconic Hockney Swimming Pools at Hidden... 

  • 'Pool Made with Paper and Blue Ink for Book' (1980)

    "Pool Made with Paper and Blue Ink for Book" (1980)

    Unsigned
    Original 6-colour hand-drawn lithograph drawn on 3 limestone and 3 aluminium plates on Arches Cover mould-made paper
    Measuring 26.5 x 22.5 cm
    Proof aside from the edition of 1000

    £19,750

     

    In 1978, Hockney visited the home and studio of printmaker Ken Tyler in upstate New York where he was introduced to a new medium and a new swimming pool. Tyler delighted in sharing an innovative process that he had developed which involved mixing dyes with paper pulps to embed images into the very page itself. Hockney set about making a series of 29 Paper Pools (1978) in this new medium, selecting Tyler’s swimming pool as his subject matter. The series examined the pool at different times of day, tracing how light and shadow played with reflections on the surface of the water.  

     

    A book was produced in 1980 about the series, and a lithograph to accompany it. Much like paper pulp, lithography is a medium indebted to ink, water and paper, so Hockney found it a suitable technique. The lithograph is a tour-de-force of printmaking, hand drawn and printed in six colours from three lithographic limestones and three aluminium plates. Pool Made with Paper and Blue Ink for Book (1980) is now one of Hockney’s most sought after editions, and with good reason. 

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  • 'Olympische Spiele Munchen 1972' (1970)

    "Olympische Spiele Munchen 1972" (1970)

    Plate signed
    Lithographic poster printed in colours on wove
    Image: 101 x 63.5cm
    Framed: 123 x 85 cm

    £2,950

     

    Hockney's poster for the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. It's an image that crackles with energy while exuding a timeless elegance. Hockney's skill and originality as a draughtsman shine in an artwork that could be a Venn diagram for his major artistic concerns: the male figure, the depiction of water and the tension between reality and the painted image.

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  • 'Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games' (1982)

    "Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games" (1982)

    Signed in pencil
    Rare original colour offset lithograph on Parsons Diploma Parchment paper
    Sheet: 91.5 × 61 cm
    Framed: 107 x 80.5 cm
    From the edition of 750
    £22,250
     
    This is the highly sought after limited edition poster published in 1982 to celebrate the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. The Olympic Committee commissioned fifteen nationally known artists to create unique designs to promote the event. Hand-signed copies of this poster are incredibly hard to track down; there are said to be fewer than 200 in existence.

    During the early 1980s Hockney began to experiment with complex photo-collages that he referred to as "joiners". Initially created with grids of Polaroid photographs (as in this image) he later adopted lab-processed 35mm film, which allowed the collages to take on a more organic arrangement. The different viewpoints and varying rates of exposure within the photographs allowed Hockney to create artworks that he felt were closer to the way we actually see objects in the world. The fluidity of movement captured in these artworks was especially well suited to depicting figures in water, one of Hockney's favoured motifs. 
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