The Tall Tree

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David Hockney's investigation into the newly invented technology of colour photocopying in 1986, which resulted in the series Home Made Prints, typifies the artist's restless drive and skill in invention over 6 decades. Hockney, fascinated by the new devices, deconstructed the multi-colour printing capability of these office "cameras", and created a series of works, each made by the artist himself with no proofs. Puzzled by the flatness of colour photocopies generated by the early xerox machines, he set out to see if they could be improved upon and soon realised that the colours sharpened if printed one coloured layer at a time. He demonstrated that prints made from these machines with care, attention and an enquiring skill are vastly superior to their products when used as intended, i.e. to make a coloured copy in one single pass. This demonstration, and this typical mode of enquiry, defines completely what makes Hockney one of the greatest artists working today.

A PRISTINE example of this rare two-panel print. Never before framed, the print has been kept in a solander box for the entirety of its life, having fresh and bright colours precisely as printed.

The Tall Tree

David Hockney

Artist: David Hockney (b.1937)
Title: The Tall Tree
Medium: Home made print on 120g Arches rag paper executed on an office colour copy machine
Date: 1986
Size: 28 x 8 1/2 in : 71.1 x 21.6 cm (2 panels)
Edition: From the edition of 60, signed, numbered and dated by the artist
Printer: Printed by the artist
Publisher: Published by the artist
Literature: Tokyo 314; Hockney, David, Home Made Prints, Self-published catalogue to accompany the exhibition at Andre Emmerich's New York gallery, Zurich, 1986, no.30 (illus.)
Reference: A17-88