Steps with Shadow (Paper Pool 2): Colored and pressed paper pulp work by David Hockney

  • Steps with Shadow (Paper Pool 2), 1978 paper pulp work by David Hockney

    Steps with Shadow (Paper Pool 2), 1978

    Colored and pressed paper pulp, unknown varient edition size

    Signed with the artist's initials, 50 3/4 by 33 1/2 in. 128.8 by 85.1 cm

    ©David Hockney

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    David Hockney's Steps with Shadow (Paper Pool 2), 1978, is one of the more geometric compositions from his Paper Pools series. Executed in coloured, pressed paper pulp, the work initially appears geometric, formed from bold blocks of colour and simplified shapes. On closer inspection, however, the composition reveals the edge of a swimming pool on a bright, sunny day. The left side of the image depicts the pool steps partially cast in shadow, while the water is constructed from layers of dark, mid and light blue paper pulp flecked with subtle tonal variations. Contrasting areas of deep black, warm red and bright white create a striking interplay between light, shade and reflection, demonstrating Hockney's ability to transform an everyday scene into a highly stylised composition.

     

    Created in collaboration with Kenneth Tyler at Tyler Graphics, Steps with Shadow (Paper Pool 2) exemplifies David Hockney's continued experimentation with papermaking during the late 1970s. Rather than printing coloured ink onto paper, Hockney used coloured paper pulp as the artistic medium itself, allowing him to build rich textures and saturated areas of colour directly into the surface of the work. Like the other compositions in the Paper Pools series, Steps with Shadow (Paper Pool 2) exists as a number of individually produced variants, each handmade rather than mechanically reproduced. 

  • "Anyway, what the bulk of them are, is a straightforward view of a swimming pool - very symmetrical with a diving-board in the middle."

     

    - David Hockney

     

    Unlike some other works in David Hockney's Paper Pools series, the number of known variants of Steps with Shadow (Paper Pool 2) has not been comprehensively documented. For example, varying catalogues have identified multiple lettered variants of Sunflower (Paper Pool 1), providing collectors with greater insight into the work's production. By comparison, relatively little published information exists for Steps with Shadow (Paper Pool 2) and several other Paper Pools compositions, making it difficult to determine how many unique variants were produced. As a result, much of the series' production history remains the subject of ongoing research, reflecting the handmade nature of Hockney's experimental paper pulp works.