Lot #1249: DAVID HOCKNEY - Parade, Metropolitan Opera, N.Y., 1981 - Color silkscreen

   

Artist: David Hockney (British, b.1937).
Title: "Parade, Metropolitan Opera, N.Y., 1981 [signed impression]".
Medium: Color silkscreen.
Date: Composed 1981.
Dimensions: Overall size: 80 7/8 x 41 in. (2054 x 1041 mm). Image size: 79 3/4 x 39 7/8 in. (2026 x 1013 mm).
Pricing:
  Starting Price: $2,400
  Reserve Price: N.A.
  Auction Sale Price Estimate: $3,000/4,000
Lot Note(s): Signed in pencil, lower right; signed and dated "© David Hockey 1981 Petersburg Press" in the plate, lower center. Edition unknown, presumed small. Light cream heavyweight wove paper. The full sheet. Very fine impression with heavy ink application; extraordinarily fresh colors. Very good condition; a few minor dings and creases in the margins, well away from the image, else fine. Literature/catalogue raisonne: Baggot/Hockney Posters 94 (1987); Baggot/Hockney Posters 103 (1994).
Comment(s): Scarce/rare with the signature. Huge, almost seven feet high. According to 'Gordon's Art Reference' the highest price achieved in the past three years at auction for another example (signed) of this object is $5,879 (£3,750) at Bonhams, Knightsbridge, February 22, 2012, lot #372. Features Hockney's oil on canvas "Harlequin" (1980). Published by the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York. Hockney, often referred to as England's greatest living artist, made brilliant contributions to the world of opera as a stage and costume designer. He also designed numerous posters. Beginning in 1975 with his work for Stravinksy's 'The Rakes Progress', until 1990 when he worked on 'Turandot', Hockney worked for the major opera houses. Among his most memorable productions were Mozart's 'Magic Flute' and Wagner's 'Tristan and Isolde'. His collaboration with the Metropolitan Opera on Eric Satie's 'Parade' is best remembered for this poster. The image, with Hockney's neo-pop decor and costumes, showcases a juggler whose contortions fit eye-catchingly into the poster's elongated format. If the opera itself is not so popular, this image has become a classic. [courtesy Nick Lowry, Swann Galleries]. Printed by the Petersburg Press, New York. Poster image copyright © David Hockney. [28310-8-2400-NA]