A Diver (Paper Pool 17): Paper pulp work by David Hockney

  • A Diver, Paper Pool 17, 1978 paper pulp wor by David Hockney

    A Diver, Paper Pool 17, 1978

     182.8 h x 434.3 w cm, twelve paper pulp sheets

    Unique work

    ©David Hockney

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    David Hockney's A Diver (Paper Pool 17), 1978, is among the most ambitious works in the Paper Pools series, spanning twelve individual sheets of coloured, pressed paper pulp to create a sweeping panoramic composition. The work captures the precise moment a diver enters the swimming pool, with a dramatic white splash interrupting the otherwise calm expanse of blue water. On the right-hand side, the submerged figure gradually disappears beneath shimmering reflections, while the iconic yellow diving board anchors the composition on the left. By combining multiple viewpoints within a single image, Hockney creates a compelling sense of movement, guiding the viewer's eye from the anticipation of the dive to the diver's passage beneath the water.

     

    Created in collaboration with Kenneth Tyler at Tyler Graphics, A Diver (Paper Pool 17) demonstrates David Hockney's continual experimentation with scale, colour and papermaking. The twelve-sheet format allowed Hockney to expand the visual narrative beyond a single moment, while the textured paper pulp captures the constantly changing reflections, ripples and transparency of water with remarkable depth. 

  • "The more I look and think about it, the more I see". 

     

    - David Hockney

    Swimming pools have been central to David Hockney's work since he moved to Los Angeles in the 1960s. Captivated by California's architecture, climate and outdoor lifestyle, Hockney saw the swimming pool as the perfect subject through which to explore light, colour, reflection and perspective. What began with celebrated paintings such as A Bigger Splash, 1967, evolved into decades of experimentation across paintings, prints, photographs and paper pulp works. Throughout his career, Hockney continually returned to the motif, using the pool not simply as a symbol of California, but as a vehicle for investigating the visual complexities of water and the possibilities of artistic innovation.