Tulips by David Hockney, b.1937

David Hockney, b.1937
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Tulips

Original aquatint in black ink. 1973. Signed and dated in pencil. numbered from the edition of 75 (plus 16 proofs). Printed at the studio of Maurice Payne, London, 1972. Published by Petersburg Press, 1973.
Ref: Scottish Arts Council Exhibition, No. 158.

Extremely fine rich and tonal impression. On pale cream wove German paper. Excellent unrestored and extremely fresh condition. Full margins. Sheet: 36?x27 1/8?. Plate: 27?x21 3/8? (685x542mm).

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David Hockney is without doubt one of the most creative and inventive painters of his generation, one who has played an extremely influential role in the art of the later twentieth century. One of the great strengths of his art, and a quality which has reappeared at many stages of his development, is his almost totally ?classical? gift as a draughtsman. His ability to draw at the very highest level is very often the foundation of his most avant garde ideas. At the same time it has meant that he also frequently reverts to images which have a simplicity and beauty which rely on his gifts as a draughtsman. His studies of flower still lifes are just one example of that aspect of his art.

Hockney?s enjoyment of the art of etching, which is absolutely central to his creative oeuvre, is also dependent on his inspired drawing. He has a feel for line, tone and texture which is amongst the greatest of that displayed by any painter-printmaker of the late twentieth century. This is very apparent in his flower studies in etching. Tulips is an extremely beautiful and large scale example of the ?classical? aspect of his art. The rhythmic elegant curves of the flower stems, drawn in a soft brushed aquatint are contrasted with the clear-cut deliberately elongated form of the vase, its surface worked with an intricate texture pattern of pure etching.