Auden
Auden
Signed Print
David Hockney
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Medium: Drypoint
Edition size: 8
Year: 1970
Size: H 52cm x W 39cm
Signed: Yes
Format: Signed Print
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Auction Results
| Auction Date | Auction House | Artwork | Hammer Price | Return to Seller | Buyer Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 2023 | Sotheby's Online - United Kingdom | Auden - Signed Print | |||
| September 2012 | Christie's London - United Kingdom | Auden - Signed Print | |||
| February 2012 | Christie's London - United Kingdom | Auden - Signed Print |
Meaning & Analysis
This signed 1970 print by British artist David Hockney is entitled Auden. Released in a very limited edition of 8, it depicts the renowned Anglo-American poet W.H. Auden in an economical fashion characteristic of the drypoint etching technique.
This 1970 signed print by British artist David Hockney depicts one of the artist’s literary heroes, Anglo-American poet and writer, W.H. Auden, who wrote the libretto for Stravinsky’s opera, The Rake’s Progress – a tale immortalised by Hockney in his print series of the same name. This print was released in a very limited edition of 8. Testament to Hockney’s admiration of Auden’s work and the important role it played in inspiring his artistic works, the print was produced 3 years before Auden’s death in 1973: a year which saw a major retrospective exhibition of Hockney’s work held at the Whitechapel Gallery, London, and in various venues across Europe. Unlike other prints in the series, which position Hockney alongside his heroes — such as Pablo Picasso, as in The Student (1973) and Artist And Model (1973) — this print places Auden at the centre of its composition. Unlike Hockney’s later Photo Collages works, in which a multitude of different perspectives are included within a single image, this is a concentrated, unifocal study of the artist’s subject. Gestural in its approach, it is an example of drypoint etching; a technique which in this case births an economical likeness of the poet’s famously bold facial features. Much like the print Maurice Payne (1971), there is an ethereal quality to this piece which emanates, in large part, from Hockney’s lightness of touch.
