Description

David Hockney Home Made Print

David Hockney’s Homemade Xerox Prints series, created in the 1980s, marks one of his early explorations into the possibilities of modern technology for making art. With this series, Hockney used a photocopier—then a novel tool for artists—to create vibrant, layered prints directly from his drawings. Instead of simply reproducing an image, Hockney used the copier as an artistic medium itself, experimenting with the unique properties of the machine to achieve bold colours, textures, and layered effects.

The process involved placing hand-drawn or coloured elements onto the copier bed, adjusting settings, and then layering multiple copies to build up colours and shapes, often slightly shifting or changing elements between copies. This method allowed for a sense of spontaneity and variation in each piece, and the limited runs of each print retained the quality of original works.

The Homemade Xerox Prints series reflects Hockney’s fascination with colour and his continued interest in new technologies as tools for artistic creation. These prints maintain his characteristic style but with a unique, playful quality brought out by the immediacy of the Xerox process, blending elements of traditional drawing with the spontaneity and reproducibility of photocopy technology. This innovative series helped solidify Hockney’s reputation as an artist unafraid to challenge conventions and explore new creative avenues.

From an edition of just sixty numbered examples, this particular example is beautifully framed in a hand finished gold leaf frame.  In May 2021, Sotheby’s New York sold a complete set of 33 Home Made prints for a record price of $963,800.