David Hockney: I Say They Are from The Blue Guitar portfolio

David Hockney: I Say They Are from The Blue Guitar portfolio, 1977, colour etching on Inveresk mould-made paper

David Hockney is one of the most influential British artists of the 20th century. In terms of motif, Hockney oscillates between landscapes, still-lifes, portraits of friends and dogs, as well as various scenographies, which he has also made for various theatres. Between 1963 and 1999, he exhibited at the Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts seven times and was twice awarded by the International Jury, in 1963, and, in 1997, with the Grand Prix d’Honneur. The acquired work is a colour etching from The Blue Guitar portfolio, created in 1973 in the studio of Aldo Crommelynck, Picasso's favourite printmaker. The etchings were inspired by Wallace Stevens, by the poem of the same title that also inspired Pablo Picasso.