24 Property of a Private British Collector David Hockney Three Oranges with a Vase signed, titled and dated "Three oranges with a vase 1995 David Hockney" on the reverse oil on canvas, in artist's frame 41 3/4 x 29 1/2 in. (106 x 74.9 cm.) Painted in 1995.
Provenance Robert Miller Gallery, New York Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1996 Exhibited Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans-Van Beuningen; Vienna, Kunsthaus Wien; New York, Robert Miller Gallery, David Hockney Paintings and Photographs of Paintings, October 29, 1995 - June 15, 1996, p. 31 (illustrated) Bonn, Kunst-und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, David Hockney Exciting Times are Ahead, June 1 - September 23, 2001; then traveled to Humblebæk, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, David Hockney Malerie 1960-2000, October 12, 2001 - January 27, 2002, no. 65, p. 179 (illustrated) Literature "Fresh Paint", The New Yorker, New York, May 27, 1996 pp. 136-137 (illustrated) Catalogue Essay Painted in 1995, David Hockney’s Three Oranges with a Vase is a definitive example of the artist's acclaimed series of floral still life paintings. While flowers have always functioned as a poignant punctuation within such iconic early paintings as Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott, 1969, or Mr. and Mrs. Clark and Percy, 1970-1971 (both Tate, London), it was with works such as the present one that Hockney first began to intensely explore the venerable tradition of still life painting on its own - prompted, in part, by the sudden passing of his closest and most valued confidant, Henry Geldzahler, in 1994. During this period of intense mourning, Hockney developed a habit of painting intimate flower still lifes as get-well cards for friends. Painting with a renewed sense of observation, intensity and joie-de-vivre, Hockney embarked upon creating paintings composed in a classical still life format. Executed with rich, luscious brushwork, Three Oranges with a Vase presents the viewer with a vase of yellow gladiolus surrounded by beautifully modulated oranges, set upon an implied cobalt blue table top and against a green background. The work beautifully demonstrates Hockney’s reverence for such modern Masters as Paul Cezanne, Henri Matisse and Vincent Van Gogh as well as the distinct sensibility for form, color and space that he is acclaimed for. Born 1937 in the north of England and gaining critical acclaim in the 1960s, David Hockney is considered to be one of the most influential artists of our time. His remarkable oeuvre, which currently is subject of a major retrospective at Tate Britain in London, oscillates among the greatest avant-garde movements of the 20th century while simultaneously defying any strict categorization. While the subject matter of flowers had arguably already been an interest of Hockney’s at earlier stages of his career, they assumed an elevated position following his visit to the 1995 exhibition Claude Monet 1840-1926 at the Art Institute of Chicago. "I came out of that exhibition and it made me look everywhere intensely. That little shadow on Michigan Avenue, the light hitting the leaf. I thought: 'My God, now I've seen it. He's made me see it'… I came out absolutely thrilled'" (David Hockney quoted in Hockney on Art: Conversations with Paul Joyce New York, 1999, p. 203). Three Oranges with a Vase is testament to Hockney’s deep understanding of the venerable lineage of the floral still life motif within the pantheon of art history, while also exemplifying his broader pre-occupation with the experience of looking in the 1980s and 1990s. As is typical for paintings from this period, the present work is characterized by the colliding of flatness with the illusion of spatial depth: while the folds in the tablecloth, modulation of the oranges and the cast shadows articulate Hockney’s eye for veracity and imply three-dimensionality, the broad, simplified brushstrokes with which the gladiolus and the green backdrop are rendered essentially flatten the composition. At the same time, the artist’s frame is joyously decorated with all over yellow polka dots imbuing the entire object with a sense of levity and turning an otherwise two-dimensional painting into a near-three-dimensional tableau. Evoking He
24 Property of a Private British Collector David Hockney Three Oranges with a Vase signed, titled and dated "Three oranges with a vase 1995 David Hockney" on the reverse oil on canvas, in artist's frame 41 3/4 x 29 1/2 in. (106 x 74.9 cm.) Painted in 1995.
Provenance Robert Miller Gallery, New York Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1996 Exhibited Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans-Van Beuningen; Vienna, Kunsthaus Wien; New York, Robert Miller Gallery, David Hockney Paintings and Photographs of Paintings, October 29, 1995 - June 15, 1996, p. 31 (illustrated) Bonn, Kunst-und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, David Hockney Exciting Times are Ahead, June 1 - September 23, 2001; then traveled to Humblebæk, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, David Hockney Malerie 1960-2000, October 12, 2001 - January 27, 2002, no. 65, p. 179 (illustrated) Literature "Fresh Paint", The New Yorker, New York, May 27, 1996 pp. 136-137 (illustrated) Catalogue Essay Painted in 1995, David Hockney’s Three Oranges with a Vase is a definitive example of the artist's acclaimed series of floral still life paintings. While flowers have always functioned as a poignant punctuation within such iconic early paintings as Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott, 1969, or Mr. and Mrs. Clark and Percy, 1970-1971 (both Tate, London), it was with works such as the present one that Hockney first began to intensely explore the venerable tradition of still life painting on its own - prompted, in part, by the sudden passing of his closest and most valued confidant, Henry Geldzahler, in 1994. During this period of intense mourning, Hockney developed a habit of painting intimate flower still lifes as get-well cards for friends. Painting with a renewed sense of observation, intensity and joie-de-vivre, Hockney embarked upon creating paintings composed in a classical still life format. Executed with rich, luscious brushwork, Three Oranges with a Vase presents the viewer with a vase of yellow gladiolus surrounded by beautifully modulated oranges, set upon an implied cobalt blue table top and against a green background. The work beautifully demonstrates Hockney’s reverence for such modern Masters as Paul Cezanne, Henri Matisse and Vincent Van Gogh as well as the distinct sensibility for form, color and space that he is acclaimed for. Born 1937 in the north of England and gaining critical acclaim in the 1960s, David Hockney is considered to be one of the most influential artists of our time. His remarkable oeuvre, which currently is subject of a major retrospective at Tate Britain in London, oscillates among the greatest avant-garde movements of the 20th century while simultaneously defying any strict categorization. While the subject matter of flowers had arguably already been an interest of Hockney’s at earlier stages of his career, they assumed an elevated position following his visit to the 1995 exhibition Claude Monet 1840-1926 at the Art Institute of Chicago. "I came out of that exhibition and it made me look everywhere intensely. That little shadow on Michigan Avenue, the light hitting the leaf. I thought: 'My God, now I've seen it. He's made me see it'… I came out absolutely thrilled'" (David Hockney quoted in Hockney on Art: Conversations with Paul Joyce New York, 1999, p. 203). Three Oranges with a Vase is testament to Hockney’s deep understanding of the venerable lineage of the floral still life motif within the pantheon of art history, while also exemplifying his broader pre-occupation with the experience of looking in the 1980s and 1990s. As is typical for paintings from this period, the present work is characterized by the colliding of flatness with the illusion of spatial depth: while the folds in the tablecloth, modulation of the oranges and the cast shadows articulate Hockney’s eye for veracity and imply three-dimensionality, the broad, simplified brushstrokes with which the gladiolus and the green backdrop are rendered essentially flatten the composition. At the same time, the artist’s frame is joyously decorated with all over yellow polka dots imbuing the entire object with a sense of levity and turning an otherwise two-dimensional painting into a near-three-dimensional tableau. Evoking He
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
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