For John Constable

This signed print, entitled For John Constable, is by much-loved British artist David Hockney. Released as a limited edition of 100, it was produced in 1976 and depicts several landscape works by Suffolk-born romantic painter, John Constable, alongside a monograph of the artist’s work. Painting, like Hockney, en plein air – outside and in situ – world-famous English artist Constable and his many portrayals of the English countryside would go on to be echoed in Hockney’s own landscape paintings, particularly those depicting his native Yorkshire, produced in their majority during the early part of the 2000s. In this piece, we are once again made to witness Hockney's prowess at the etching plate; a combination of gestural, ethereal lines contrast with detailed cross-hatching to suggest the artist’s profound regard for the work of his Suffolk counterpart. A tribute to one of the titans of British art history, this piece is sure to include Constable’s name within its visual field: signposting his importance as a visual artist, Hockney renders Constable’s influence upon his own work clear for all to see. When discussing the work of Turner and Constable with British art historian Wendy Beckett, Hockney was once asked if he was a ‘Turner or Constable man’. In this etching, Hockney gives us his answer.