David Hockney - Editions & Works on Paper New York Tuesday, April 19, 2022 | Phillips
  •  The monumental photographic drawing, Viewers Looking at a Ready-made with Skull and Mirrors, depicts a white cube exhibition space in which three enormous mirrors hang on the walls reflecting a formation of standing and seated figures encircling a ‘ready-made’ sculpture. The assemblage is comprised of variously sized, metal carts stacked upon one another with a skull placed at the pinnacle. Hockney used advanced camera technology to meticulously photograph each person and object from every angle and perspective so that he could digitally alter and stitch the images together to create a fictional scene. The audience consists of friends and colleagues, many of whom make repeat appearances in his other works, but at slightly altered angles, thus emphasizing the impressive capability of the camera. 

    "In a humorous fashion, he depicted viewers observing an apparent piece of conceptual art to make a comment on contemporary spectatorship and the institutionalized exhibiting models."
    —Balasz Takac, Wide Walls Magazine 
    The presence and angles of the mirrors when paired with the composition of the scene presents the idea of viewers as participants. We observe the seven figures, observing themselves, observing the sculpture and as a result, we join them as active participants when we inhabit the position of observing the work as a whole. 

    • Provenance

      L.A. Louver Gallery, Venice, California

    • Artist Biography

      David Hockney

      David Hockney (b. 1937) is one of the most well-known and celebrated artists of the
      20th and 21st centuries. He works across many mediums, including painting, collage,
      and more recently digitally, by creating print series on iPads. His works show semi-
      abstract representations of domestic life, human relationships, floral, fauna, and the
      changing of seasons.

      Hockney has exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Royal
      Academy of Arts in London, and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, among many
      other institutions. On the secondary market, his work has sold for more than $90
      million.

       
      View More Works

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Viewers Looking at a Ready-made with Skull and Mirrors

2018
Monumental photographic drawing in colors, on four sheets of wove paper, mounted on Dibond (as issued).
S. 71 1/2 x 42 1/2 in. (181.6 x 108 cm)
Signed, dated and numbered 25/25 in black ink, published by the artist, framed.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$80,000 - 120,000 

Sold for $157,500

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Editions & Works on Paper

New York Auction 19 - 21 April 2022