Name: The Tall Tree
Brand: David Hockney
Rating: 5 (236 reviews)

Track auction value trend

The value of David Hockney's The Tall Tree (signed) is estimated to be worth between £9,500 and £14,500. This digital print artwork, created in 1986, has shown consistent value growth, with an average annual growth rate of 10%. Over the past 12 months, there have been 10 sales, demonstrating the steady popularity of this piece within the art market. The hammer price over the last five years has ranged from £8,000 in June 2022 to £14,000 in June 2021. Since its first sale in April 2011, this artwork has an auction history of 20 sales. The edition size of this artwork is limited to 60.

Meaning & Analysis

Printed across two sheets of paper stacked on top of one another, The Tall Tree by David Hockney is a striking work from the Home Made Prints series. Stretching to over 70 cm tall, the print was published in a signed edition of 60 in 1986.

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The black outline of a tree trunk rises up against a grey sky. Heart shaped leaves hang from invisible branches, and its roots spread across a mound that at first glance looks like the top of a thumbprint. Printed across two sheets the work is striking for its verticality and stands out among the other pieces in the series known as Home Made Prints.

While it has echoes of Japanese woodblock printing the work was produced on an office photocopying machine, its various elements pierced together by the artist through a process of layering which allowed him to recreate elements of lithography and screen printing from the comfort of his own home and without the assistance of a workshop. This newfound technique left much room for experimentation and here we see Hockney combining various elements of scale, texture and colour to create a composite image that is constantly surprising in its play of surface and depth.

While Hockney loved depicting natural elements in his work, he preferred to depict vases of flowers and potted plants in this series which is characterised by a number of still lifes and interiors. Here instead the tree is shown alone, and with its dark palette it offers a sense of foreboding that is in stark contrast to the vibrant tones of the other works in Home Made Prints.