David Hockney|23 Lithographs 1978–1980 (Tyler Graphics)

These lithographs came out of the months Hockney spent at Kenneth Tyler's home and workshop in Bedford Village, New York, where he drew the water of one swimming pool eleven ways. Tyler ran his workshop, Tyler Graphics, from a converted coach house there. Hockney arrived in August 1978, and the pool in Tyler's garden prompted the 'Paper Pools', unique pictures in pressed coloured paper pulp. The lithographs grew alongside them, and in 1980 Tyler Graphics gathered the finished prints in a catalogue titled 'David Hockney: 23 Lithographs 1978–1980'.

One pool, eleven ways

The water prints share one view of Tyler's pool, with a low diving board reaching out over the water. Hockney remembered that "every day we would have lunch by the swimming pool", and called water "a wonderful subject, water, the light on the water". From print to print only the drawing and colour of the water change, so that each print catches the light on the surface differently.

The other prints

Most of these turn from the pool to people and flowers. Five are on large sheets of about 112 x 76 cm: 'Joe With Green Window', 'Black Tulips' and 'Potted Daffodils' in portrait, 'Johnny And Lindsay' and 'Ann Seated In Director's Chair' in landscape. 'Bora Bora' and 'Green Bora Bora' are larger still. 'Byron On Hand', by contrast, is a small lithograph on Chinese tissue paper.

At auction

At Phillips's David Hockney sale in London on 13 September 2022, 'Afternoon Swimming' sold for £302,400 including fees. The same print had made $87,500 at Phillips New York in October 2013. In the 2022 sale the small 'Pool Made with Paper and Blue Ink for Book' made £61,740. The water prints also reached six figures. An artist's proof of 'Lithograph of Water Made of Lines, a Green Wash, and a Light Blue Wash' made £214,200 at Phillips London in January 2023, and 'Lithographic Water Made of Lines, Crayon, and a Blue Wash' £154,800 there in September 2026. At Bonhams London in June 2025, 'Lithograph of Water Made of Lines and a Green Wash' made £108,350. All these figures include fees. Portraits sold for far less: 'Byron On Hand' made £4,064 at Phillips London in January 2024, and a dedicated proof of 'Johnny And Lindsay' £4,826 there in September 2024.

Before and after

The partnership with Tyler began in 1965 with 'A Hollywood Collection', made at Gemini in Los Angeles. After these lithographs, Hockney returned to Tyler Graphics for the 'Moving Focus' prints of 1984 and 1985, which include a view of Tyler's dining room.