THE PERSPECTIVE LESSON, 1984: Print by David Hockney from the Moving Focus series

 

The Perspective Lesson, 1984, is a signed lithograph by David Hockney from his Moving Focus series, a group of 29 prints exploring space, perception, and shifting viewpoints. The composition centres on a wicker chair, presented twice within the same image to challenge traditional ideas of perspective. In the background, the chair is rendered in a loose, sketch-like style and deliberately crossed out in red, rejecting the fixed, single-point perspective typically associated with classical representation. In contrast, the foreground introduces a second chair, more defined and constructed through bold lines and colour, set against a dynamic floor of dashed marks that emphasise movement and depth.

 

Through this dual composition, Hockney highlights the instability of perspective and the limitations of seeing from a single viewpoint. The contrast between the crossed-out drawing and the reimagined chair in the foreground reflects his ongoing interest in how space is perceived rather than simply recorded. As one of the most conceptually direct works in the Moving Focus series, The Perspective Lesson encapsulates Hockney’s commitment to experimentation, offering collectors a key example of his exploration into multipoint perspective and visual experience.