“There is no such thing as bad weather. I can look at the little puddles in the rain and get pleasure out of them … if it’s rainy I’ll draw the rain, if it’s sunny I’ll draw the sun … The world is very, very beautiful if you look at it, but most people don’t look very much.”
—David HockneyWith an aura of California-cool, David Hockney’s Mist, from his 1973 Weather Series, depicts three palm trees that stand as tall silhouettes amidst a dense, dreamlike haze. Adamant that he would not simply spray the page with ink – “you know, it’s too easy”, he stated – Hockney instead conjured the mist with sponged and stippled pink hues over the blue-grey receding palm trees, creating a suggestion of spatial recession before they disappear into the encroaching obscurity. There is no sun, only a muted light source that softens the formal elements. It seems that if we wait any longer, we too will be engulfed in the dusty haze of Californian mist.
Before completing his Weather Series, Hockney travelled to Japan to distract from his separation from long-term partner Peter Schlesinger. Disappointed at first by the industrial scenery, Hockney became quickly enamoured of Japanese traditional art that depicted rolling hills, vast mountainous topography and bucolic country idylls. The heavily stylised renditions – characterised by cropped compositions, heavy outlined delineations, bold block colours and woodcut textures – began to take precedence in Hockney’s own landscape depictions, as demonstrated in Mount Fuji and Flowers painted upon his returned to England in 1972. Embarking on various journeys to Japan between 1971 and 1973 provided a fresh lens for Hockney to view his work, the subtle coalescing between east and west revivifying his compositions that had previously restrained by a tinge of melancholic loneliness and absence.
Utagawa Kunisada, Landscape in the Mist, mid-19th century, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Image: © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Henry L. Phillips Collection, Bequest of Henry L. Phillips, 1939, JP2863 The Weather Series, in particular, was strongly influenced by the representation of atmospheric phenomena in Japanese art of the Edo period (1615-1868), exemplified by works such as Utagawa Kunisada’s series of eleven woodblock prints depicting views of Mount Fuji under various weather conditions, including Landscape in the Mist. Rendered with stylised naturalism, the intricate forms and deceptive simplicity of such works finds affinity in Hockney’s own meditation on the subject. Both detailed and restrained, sparse and balanced, Hockney’s Weather Series similarly interweaves the entrancing power of nature with finely refined form and colour to create tranquil yet captivating landscapes.
Claude Monet, Morning Haze, 1888, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Image: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Chester Dale Collection Hockney’s Weather Series, which also includes explorations of rain, mist, sun, wind and lightning, draws strong parallels to the Impressionist movement, particularly its focus on light, nature, and the transience of a fleeting moment. Impressionist artists sought to capture the ephemeral effects of light and atmosphere, painting en plein air to observe how natural light transformed their surroundings. Similarly, Hockney’s work in the Weather Series emphasises the transient and mutable qualities of weather, portraying the delicate dance of light and shadow that emphasises the ephemeral beauty of nature. Drawing inspiration particularly from predecessors such as Claude Monet, Mist is indebted to Impressionist depictions of the variability of colour and shifting light. Placing complementary cool tones of blue and pink side-by-side, in Mist we see Hockney’s adept sensitivity to colour used to masterfully capture the misty yet luminous sunlight. Hockney’s fascination with these themes in the early 1970s prefigured later bodies of work, such as his monumental, multi-media Arrival of Spring projects, completed in Yorkshire in 2011 and in Normandy in 2020, which captured the light and colours of the respective environments as they transitioned from winter to late spring.
Literature
Gemini G.E.L. 442
Scottish Arts Council 138
Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo 129Artist 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.
40
Mist, from Weather Series (G. 442, S.A.C. 138, M.C.A.T. 129)
1973
Lithograph in colours, on Arjomari paper, with full margins.
I. 74 x 64.5 cm (29 1/8 x 25 3/8 in.)
S. 94.1 x 81.2 cm (37 x 31 7/8 in.)
Signed, titled, dated and numbered 52/98 in blue pencil (there were also 12 artist's proofs), published by Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles (with their blindstamps), framed.
Estimate
£20,000 - 30,000 ‡♠
Sold for £36,830
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David Hockney
London Auction 19 September 2024
