HOTEL ACATLÁN: TWO WEEKS LATER: Print by David Hockney from the Moving Focus series

David Hockney’s Hotel Acatlán: Two Weeks Later, 1985, is a lithograph print from the Moving Focus series, forming part of a group of works inspired by an unexpected stay near Acatlán. While travelling to Mexico City for his exhibition Hockney Paints the Stage at the Museo Rufino Tamayo, a mechanical issue led Hockney to the Hotel Romano Angeles. What began as a brief stop developed into a focused study of the hotel’s courtyard, resulting in multiple lithographs that explore colour, structure, and shifting perspective. Returning to the site weeks later, Hockney revisited the scene, capturing a revised viewpoint of the architecture and surrounding environment.

 

In Hotel Acatlán: Two Weeks Later, Hockney adopts a slightly elevated perspective from within the portico, opening the composition across the courtyard and garden. Architectural elements such as the supporting columns and planted greenery reappear, while the inclusion of a seated figure introduces a subtle human presence within the space. The composition is defined by bold outlines and a saturated palette of reds, blues, greens, and yellows, characteristic of David Hockney’s 1980s lithographs. As part of the Moving Focus series, the work reflects Hockney’s continued exploration of spatial construction, where multiple viewpoints and colour relationships shape the visual structure of the image.