DAV ID HOCKNEY PRI N TS
Cover image: Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, etching and aquatint printed in colours, 1961 (detail)
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DAVID HOCKNEY PRI N TS Virtual Exhibition 27th April – 8th May 2020
Lyndsey Ingram 20 Bourdon Street, London W1K 3PL T. +44 (0)20 7629 8849 E. info@lyndseyingram.com W. lyndseyingram.com
ly n d s e y i n g r a m
We are delighted to be presenting this group of prints by David Hockney, which will be the third in the gallery’s series of virtual exhibitions this spring. This selection of work was originally intended for the London Original Print Fair, but as the current global circumstances have unfolded, it has been adapted to be viewed online. Hockney has been a committed printmaker throughout his long and distinguished career, which now spans over 60 years. He first flirted with lithography in 1954 and began making prints in earnest when he discovered etching in 1961, while studying at the Royal College in London. It comes as no surprise that Hockney has pursued printmaking with great enthusiasm; a keen willingness to explore and master new techniques has often defined his work. From his first etchings at the Royal College, he soon moved on to lithography, screenprinting, paper pulp, colour photocopying, most recently discovering the possibilities of print making with an iPad. Our current exhibition focuses on his endeavors with two of the most traditional printmaking techniques – etching and lithography. The Illustrations for Fourteen Poems from C.P. Cavafy from 1966 is one of his earliest etching projects. The larger works from 1998, including Van Gogh Chair and Red Wire Plant, are his most recent etchings to date. One of Hockney’s greatest achievements in lithography are his Lithographic Water prints, a progression of swimming pool images made with master printer Ken Tyler. We are pleased to include Lithograph of Water Made of Lines, a Green Wash, and a Light Blue Wash (1978-80) here, one of the most vibrant and developed images from this iconic series. Printmaking pursuits have always been closely aligned with Hockney’s wider practice and a survey of his graphic work provides a clear picture of his rich and dynamic career. Looking at these prints together, one can’t help but be impressed by Hockney’s ability to vary his approach, but consistently deliver a perfectly executed picture. 4
Van Gogh Chair, etching printed in colours, 1998. 94.6 � 87.6 cm (detail)
F OR EWO R D
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Hockney was hugely influenced by the erotic verse of C.P. Cavafy, an openly gay Egyptian-Greek poet writing in the late 19th and early 20th century. As the young Hockney become more open about his own burgeoning homosexuality, the subject began to appear more clearly in his work and Cavafy’s poems offered a perfect companion for Hockney’s tenderly erotic scenes. Having decided to make this series of etchings, Hockney travelled to Beruit in 1966 to live amongst a culture and people similar to that which had inspired Cavafy many decades earlier. During this time, he worked on a group of drawings that would ultimately lead to the making of this portfolio. Hockney also commissioned a new translation of Cavafy’s poems to accompany his etchings. Published in 1967, this series of openly gay imagery directly coincides with the passing of a parliamentary act that finally decriminalised homosexuality.
Portrait of Cavafy II Etching with aquatint, 1966-67. Signed in pencil. This print issued with the first 250 of 500 copies of Illustrations for Fourteen Poems from C.P. Cavafy. 56.5 × 40 cm (22 1/4 × 15 3/4 in)
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Vase and Flowers Etching and aquatint, 1969. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 75. 93.5 Ă— 71 cm (36.8 Ă— 27.9 in)
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Hockney first met Auden in 1968, when music critic Peter Hayworth introduced them and suggested Hockney draw the poet’s portrait. A great lover of poetry, Hockney was excited to meet Auden; however, the meeting was not entirely pleasant as the poet was visibly annoyed that Hockney had decided to bring Peter Schlesinger and Ron Kitaj with him to the sitting. Soon after, Hockney famously remarked “I kept thinking if his face looks like this, what must his balls look like?’ * This drypoint, made two years later, is a delicately observed portrait of Auden’s remarkable face. In just a few lines, Hockney beautifully captures his weathered and wrinkled appearance. Printed in a small edition of eight, with two artist proofs (of which this is one), this work is extremely rare. *Christopher Simon Sykes ‘Hockney – A Rake’s Progress’ (2011)
W H Auden Drypoint etching, 1970. Signed in pencil and inscribed ‘proof’. 1 of 2 proof impressions aside from the edition of 8. Printed by Maurice Payne, London. Published by Petersburg Press, London. (S.A.C 116) (Tokyo 109) 52 × 40 cm (20 1/2 × 15 3/4 in)
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Peter Langan was the infamous proprietor of Odin’s, a brasserie popular with the many creative and eccentric characters of 1960’s London. Famous as much for his extreme alcoholism as for his love of art and artists, Langan was adored by Hockney and his circle, all of whom frequented the restaurant. The dining room of Odin’s was adorned with several of Hockney’s pictures as well as works by his contemporaries including Patrick Procktor and Ron Kitaj, all given by the artists in exchange for meals. This patchwork of contemporary art would come to define the character of the legendary London eatery. Hockney made several portraits of the famous restauranteur, including this soulful and beautifully observed etching.
The Restaurateur Etching, 1972. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 80. Printed by Print Shop, Amsterdam. Published by Petersburg Press, London. (S.A.C. 128). 45 × 37 cm (17 3/4 × 14 5/8 in)
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In the early 1970s, Hockney spent time living and working in Paris. While he was there, he completed several etchings with the legendary printer Aldo Crommelynck, who had been Picasso’s printer for decades until the artist’s death in 1973. Hockney’s technical facility as a print maker was hugely expanded under Crommelynck’s tutelage; most importantly, he taught Hockney how to print etchings in colour, something he had never accomplished previously. Having made small, mostly monochrome etchings before this, “Contrejour in the French Style’ represents a significant departure - both in its substantial scale and it’s expansive range of colour. Many of the subjects undertaken whilst working with Commelynck reference Hockney’s Parisian life. This image is of a view from the Louvre, including the beautifully observed parquet floors and a stylised deception of the Tuileries beyond.
Contrejour in the French Style Etching and aquatint printed in colours, 1974. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 75. Printed on Inveresk mould-made paper by Maurice Payne, London. Published by Petersburg Press, London. (Tokyo 153) 99.5 � 92 cm (39.17 � 36.22 in)
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“In the swimming pool pictures, I had become interested in the more general problem of painting the water, finding a way to do it. It is an interesting formal problem, really, apart from that subject matter; is a formal problem to represent water, to describe water, because it can be anything – it can be any colour, its movable, it has no set visual description.” – David Hockney
Lithograph of Water Made of Lines, a Green Wash, and a Light Blue Wash Lithograph printed in colours, 1978-80. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 37. Published by Tyler Graphics Ltd, New York. (Tokyo 125) 66 � 87.6 cm (26 � 34 1/2 in)
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Pool Made with Paper and Blue Ink for Book Lithograph printed in colours, 1980. Signed in pencil and numbered 138 from the edition of 1000. Printed on White Arches Cover mould-made paper by Roger Campbell, Lee Funderburg and Kenneth Tyler at Tyler Graphics Ltd., New York. Published by Tyler Graphics Ltd., New York. (Tokyo 234) 26.7 ďż˝ 22.9 cm (10 1/2 ďż˝ 9 1/8 in)
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Untitled (For Joe Wachs) Lithograph and screenprint printed in colours, 1993. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 130. 54.6 ďż˝ 64.8 cm (21 1/2 ďż˝ 25 1/2 in)
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Hockney has often used an empty chair as the means of making a portrait. Even with the absence of the sitter, we know that the picture is for, or about, someone particular. From only a few subtle clues, the shape of the chair and the carefully placed pipe, it is immediately clear that this picture is about one of Hockney’s greatest artistic heroes – Vincent Van Gogh. In this large etching, Hockney also references Van Gogh’s pictorial approach. The skewed composition shows what Hockney describes as Van Gogh’s ‘bent perspective’, something he greatly admired.
Van Gogh Chair Etching printed in colours, 1998. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 35. Printed on Somerset Satin paper by the artist. Published by the artist. 94.6 � 87.6 cm (37 1/4 � 34 1/2 in)
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Although perhaps not obvious at first glance, Hockney’s most recent etchings, made in 1998, are very similar to those he made when he first attempted the medium in the early 1960s. In these recent works, he has returned to his original minimal pallet of black and red. The sharp, intentional lines and use of linear crosshatching seen here are also characteristics that define his earlier work. The 1998 etchings, including Red Wire Plant and several others in our current exhibition, were printed by master printer Maurice Payne, who Hockney first started working with on the Cavafy etching in 1966. Spanning over 50 years, they have shared a long and fruitful artistic collaboration, which is evident in the scale and ambition of these late etchings.
Red Wire Plant Etching printed in colours, 1998. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 35. 77.47 ďż˝ 91.44 cm (30 1/2 ďż˝ 36 in)
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Hat On Chair Etching, 1998. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 100. 75.3 ďż˝ 57 cm (29 5/8 ďż˝ 22 1/2 in)
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What an artist is trying to do for people is bring them closer to something, because of course art is about sharing. You wouldn’t be an artist unless you wanted to share an experience, a thought. – David Hockney
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