Woman with a Sewing Machine of 1954, is one of David Hockney’s earliest forays into the medium of lithography. It was completed when the artist was just 16 years old, soon after he enrolled at the Bradford School of Art in 1953. Overjoyed to leave grammar school and study art fulltime, "It was thrilling”, Hockney said, “to be at a school where I knew I would enjoy everything they asked me to do. I loved it all and I used to spend twelve hours a day in the art school." At the school, the teaching emphasised the importance of observational drawing and traditional study of perspective, anatomy and tonal values. Despite his young age, Hockney’s adept understanding of draughtsmanship, colour and composition is evident in the prints he made at this time. This print provides a tender insight into the artist's formative years and stands as one of the earliest and most rare prints produced by the artist.
Edouard Vuillard, La Cuisinière, from "Landscapes and Interiors", 1899, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Image: © National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Rosenwald Collection, 1950.16.269 Woman with a Sewing Machine depicts Hockney's mother, Laura, sat neatly before a large black sewing machine. She smiles contently and her gaze is directed outwards at the viewer. In the background, the vibrant hues of the fireplace and patterned wallpaper evoke the Hockney’s family living room. This personal, domestic interior bares close resemblance to Edouard Vuillard's lithographs of his own mother, a seamstress, engaged in her craft amidst patterned domestic surroundings. From this early point, we see Hockney engage in artistic dialogue with preceding modern masters and harnessing the potentials of graphic techniques – a practise he has consistently upheld throughout his career.
Provenance
Private Collection, Yorkshire
Thence by descent to the present ownerLiterature
Scottish Arts Council 2
Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo 2Artist 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.
1
Woman with a Sewing Machine (S.A.C. 2, M.C.A.T. 2)
1954
Lithograph in colours, on cartridge paper, with wide margins.
I. 22.6 x 37.8 cm (8 7/8 x 14 7/8 in.)
S. 38 x 51.3 cm (14 7/8 x 20 1/4 in.)
One of approximately 5 proofs of which only some were initialed (there was no published edition), printed by the artist, unframed.
Estimate
£2,000 - 3,000 ♠
Sold for £4,826
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David Hockney
London Auction 19 September 2024
