The Rescued Princess
Signed Print

Known also as The Princess After Many Years in the Glass Mountain, David Hockney’s The Rescued Princess depicts a scene from the fairy tale of Old RInkrank, in which a young princess is imprisoned by the eponymous character in the glass mountain built by her father. After many years as his servant she eventually entraps him and makes her escape. Here Hockney shows her surrounded by blocks of glass – which resemble ice – dressed in a heavy and formal dress. Her eyes are blank as if exhausted by the years of servitude and imprisonment. The glass refracts her dress, distorting her figure in an illusion that is expertly reproduced in the etching. Rapunzel is one of six fairy tales Hockney chose to illustrate in 1969 after much research; commenting on the appeal of the Brothers Grimm stories for him the artist said, “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.” Published as an edition of 100 the works also became part of a book which included the text of the stories and has become one of Hockney’s most beloved artworks.