Une Autre Piscine A Minuit (Paper Pool 20): Paper Pool work by David Hockney

  • Une Autre Piscine à Minuit, Paper Pool 20, 1978

    Une Autre Piscine à Minuit, Paper Pool 20, 1978

    Coloured and pressed paper pulp, 72 x 85.5 in 

    Unique work

    ©David Hockney

    Back to: Paper Pool

     

    David Hockney's Une Autre Piscine à Minuit, Paper Pool 20 presents another atmospheric interpretation of the swimming pool at night. Created in coloured, pressed paper pulp, the composition adopts a symmetrical viewpoint from the end of a diving board, drawing the eye towards the softly illuminated pool. Using a restrained palette of blues and blacks, Hockney replaces the vibrant energy of his daytime pool scenes with a quiet sense of stillness, allowing subtle shifts in tone to suggest depth, reflection and the calm surface of the water.

     

    Created in collaboration with Kenneth Tyler at Tyler Graphics, Une Autre Piscine à Minuit, Paper Pool 20 demonstrates Hockney's continued exploration of colour, perspective and papermaking. The textured paper pulp gives the water a luminous quality that changes with the light, while the simplified composition highlights Hockney's interest in geometry and spatial relationships. Widely regarded as a unique work, it forms part of the artist's innovative Paper Pools series, where familiar swimming pool scenes become studies of atmosphere and perception.

  • "It is an interesting formal problem; it is a formal problem to represent water, to describe water, because it can be anything. It can be any colour and it has no set visual description."

     

    - David Hockney

     

    David Hockney has worked with paper throughout his career, continually pushing beyond the boundaries of traditional printmaking. From etchings and lithographs to innovative paper pulp works, he viewed paper not simply as a surface to receive an image but as a medium with its own expressive possibilities. His collaborations with master printer Kenneth Tyler enabled him to experiment with handmade paper, colour and texture on an unprecedented scale, resulting in works that blur the distinctions between printmaking, painting and sculpture. These paper-based works reflect Hockney's lifelong commitment to technical innovation while demonstrating his ability to transform familiar subjects into visually complex and highly original compositions.