“It is an interesting formal problem; it is a formal problem to represent water, to describe water, because it can be anything. It can be any colour and it has no set visual description”
—David Hockney
Michael Childers, David Hockney, poolside in Los Angeles, with polaroid’s of David Stolts and Ian Falconer, circa 1978. Image: © Michael Childers/Corbis via Getty Images Instantly recognisable, David Hockney’s swimming pools are widely identified as the artist’s most famous motif. Embodying his fascination with post-war America, Hockney’s swimming pools serve as a metaphorical springboard into an extended investigation that spanned decades of his career: the formal challenge of representing water.
Lithograph of Water Made of Lines, a Green Wash, and a Light Blue Wash is one of eleven editions of lithographic prints that Hockney created of the same scene between 1978 and 1980. Using a number of aluminium plates, Hockney demonstrates the diversity of line, creating depth, shadow, and variations in tone to produce the transparent effect of water. The artist also uses washes in green and blue hues to build up the mass of water and to reflect the ever-changing light conditions. In doing so, Hockey not only captures the deceptive shadows in the depths of the pool, but also the variation in colours visible in the reflective water. The dynamic blue and green gestures evoke the water’s constant movement and are reminiscent of the bold arcs that Hockney had painted on the bottom of his own backyard pool by 1978.
Swimming pools became a staple of Hockney’s oeuvre early on in his career. Flying into Los Angeles for the first time in 1963, Hockney looked out of the aeroplane window and was immediately captivated by the striking blues of the countless swimming pools scattered throughout the city below. Following a move to this "promised land" in 1964, Hockney visually defined Los Angeles through his celebrated pool paintings, including A Bigger Splash (1967) which currently resides in Tate Britain’s permanent collection.
“I believe that the problem of how to depict something is… an interesting one and it’s a permanent one; there is no solution to it. There are a thousand and one ways you can go about it. There is no set rule”
—David HockneyLiterature
Tyler Graphics 248
Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo 205Artist Biography
David Hockney
David Hockney (b. 1937) is one of the most well-known and celebrated artists of the
20th and 21st centuries. He works across many mediums, including painting, collage,
and more recently digitally, by creating print series on iPads. His works show semi-
abstract representations of domestic life, human relationships, floral, fauna, and the
changing of seasons.
Hockney has exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Royal
Academy of Arts in London, and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, among many
other institutions. On the secondary market, his work has sold for more than $90
million.
Property of a Private UK Collector
28
Lithograph of Water Made of Lines, a Green Wash, and a Light Blue Wash (T.G. 248, M.C.A.T. 205)
1978-80
Lithograph in colours, on TGL handmade paper, with full margins.
I. 50 x 70.4 cm (19 5/8 x 27 3/4 in.)
S. 66.4 x 87.5 cm (26 1/8 x 34 1/2 in.)
Signed, dated and numbered 'AP VI' in pencil (one of 12 artist's proofs in Roman numerals, the edition was 37 in Arabic numerals), published by Tyler Graphics, Ltd., Bedford Village, New York (with their blindstamp), framed.
Estimate
£70,000 - 90,000 ♠
Sold for £214,200
Rebecca Tooby-Desmond
Specialist, Head of Sale, Editions
T +44 207 318 4079
M +44 7502 417366
rtooby-desmond@phillips.com
Robert Kennan
Head of Editions, Europe
T +44 207 318 4075
M +44 7824 994 784
rkennan@phillips.com
Anne Schneider-Wilson
Senior International Specialist, Editions
T +44 207 318 4042
M +44 7760 864 748
aschneider-wilson@phillips.com
Evening & Day Editions
London Auction 18 - 19 January 2023
168
This lot is no longer available.
300
This lot is no longer available.
