David Hockney Two Vases in the Louvre For Sale

This print is a showcase of David Hockney’s technical ability, as he masterfully renders an interior scene of the Louvre museum. The composition is symmetrical; we look at two vases framing a grand window, out of which we can make out the faint sketch of the Parisian building opposite. Perhaps the most striking part of this print is Hockney’s depiction of light. Through the window, a bright white light floods through, illuminating the scene, and casting a dim shadow around the periphery and behind the vases, adding depth. Hockney's technical skill is demonstrated by the way he blends so many different colours, an array of soft lilacs and greens, into the etching, demonstrating how much his technique has evolved from his earlier etchings, such as A Rakes Progress.

Hockney relocated to Paris in 1973 and remained there until 1975, living and working there. Hockney talked on how his surroundings shaped him after moving, stating, “it is easier for me to get the necessary detachment in Paris because I don't understand much of the French character or the language. But on the other hand, I know how to use my eyes. Paris has been painted by so many people. By very talented artists, much greater than I am…” Many of Hockney's prints from this period, which were designed after his ex-lover Peter Schlesinger moved out, are infused with a sense of loneliness, absence, and isolation.

French architecture and its "way of life" greatly influenced Hockney, who used this idea for Rue de Seine and French Shop, among his other works. In the same year, Hockney created Two Vases in the Louvre, which shares compositional similarities with this print in terms of symmetry and subject matter.