Brenda
Brenda
Signed Print
David Hockney
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112 x 78cm, Edition of 35, Etching
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Meaning & Analysis
Brenda is an etching on Somerset paper created by David Hockney in 1998. This portrait depicts a woman named Brenda, focusing solely on her facial features and expression. Hockney, known for his diverse artistic output, produced this piece as part of a series of etchings in the late 1990s.
In Brenda, Hockney employs etching, a printmaking technique where lines are incised into a metal plate using acid, creating a print with fine detail and tonal variations. The artwork demonstrates Hockney's skill in translating observational drawings into the more deliberate medium of printmaking.
The composition focuses entirely on Brenda's face, eliminating background elements to draw attention to her expression. The viewer's eyes are drawing towards Brenda's hands at the bottom of the composition, which reach to hold her swollen, pregnant stomach. The etching's intimate scale and focused composition invite close inspection, encouraging viewers to engage deeply with the subject's depicted personality.
Brenda is part of a larger body of work from the late 1990s where Hockney explored portraiture through various printmaking techniques. This period marked a return to traditional mediums for Hockney, following his experiments with photography and digital art in the 1980s and early 1990s.