Water Pouring Into Swimming Pool, Santa Monica
Signed Print

Unlike many of Hockney’s other depictions of pools, this work fails to show the actual body of water itself and instead focuses on the pipes that fill it. Here they are presented at various angles, appearing like a fountain or elaborate water feature in a garden. Out of each pipe gushes out water of varying qualities, one stream is spiralled like the tusk of a narwhal or a merry go round pole, another is a thin transparent stream, while the middle one emits a kind of thick spray. In this way the work becomes a study of water itself and the way it interacts with light and air. Using lithography as his chosen medium, Hockney pushes the limit of mark making to explore these different qualities and to present a harmonious composition which is united by its difference. Made in 1964 the work dates to the same year Hockney moved to LA from London and perhaps marks the beginning of his fascination with water and light which characterises much of the work he produced in the west coast city. He was first attracted to the sharp light of Hollywood movies and the move had such a monumental effect on his outlook and direction as an artist that he later compared it to ‘Van Gogh going to Arles’.