Description

David Hockney – Princess Searching – Signed Etching

Size – 11 x 7 Inches  (Framed Size – 11 x 20 Inches)

See Photos for condition

Hand Signed and numbered by the artist in pencil. Number 69 of 100.

Printed on pure white rag waterleaf paper, hotpressed and watermarked throughout DH:PP, by W. S. Hodgkinson of Bath, to a weight of 298 gsm.

Drawn directly onto copper plates and etched by David Hockney at his home in Powis Terrace, London, between May and November 1969. The etchings were proofed by Maurice Payne at the Royal College of Art. The finished plates were chrome faced and printed by Piet Clement at The Print Shop, in Amsterdam, from January to May 1970.

Published by the Petersburg Press, in association with the Kasmin Gallery, in 1970.

Collection: V & A, London

This etching is the fourth and final illustration from ‘The Little Sea Hare’ tale. David Hockney wrote, “finally he changes into this sea-hare – which is some mythical creature like a unicorn – and he hides himself in her hair. So when she looks through her windows, because none of her windows is a mirror she cannot see him. And I interpreted this. Instead of putting him in her hair, I put him as though he’s inside of her”.

This is one of 39 etchings that Hockney created for the series ‘Six Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm’. Hockney selected six stories for the series, from the 220 by the Brothers Grimm, which he’d delighted in since childhood: ‘The Little Sea Hare’, ‘Fundevogel’, ‘Rapunzel’, ‘The Boy who left Home to learn Fear’, ‘Old Rinkrank’ and ‘Rumpelstilzchen’. Hockney stated, “They’re fascinating, the little stories, told in a very very simple, direct, straightforward language and style, it was this simplicity that attracted me. They cover quite a strange range of experience, from the magical to the moral.”