An Erotic Etching
An Erotic Etching
Signed Print
David Hockney
£5,500-£8,500
$10,500-$16,000 Value Indicator
$9,500-$14,500 Value Indicator
¥50,000-¥80,000 Value Indicator
€6,500-€10,000 Value Indicator
$50,000-$80,000 Value Indicator
¥1,050,000-¥1,620,000 Value Indicator
$7,000-$10,500 Value Indicator
AAGR (5 years) This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.
There aren't enough data points on this work for a comprehensive result. Please speak to a specialist by making an enquiry.
Medium: Etching
Edition size: 100
Year: 1975
Size: H 22cm x W 16cm
Signed: Yes
Format: Signed Print
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Auction Results
| Auction Date | Auction House | Artwork | Hammer Price | Return to Seller | Buyer Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 2023 | Sotheby's Online - United Kingdom | An Erotic Etching - Signed Print | |||
| June 2023 | Bonhams New Bond Street - United Kingdom | An Erotic Etching - Signed Print | |||
| April 2022 | Phillips New York - United States | An Erotic Etching - Signed Print | |||
| December 2021 | Bonhams New Bond Street - United Kingdom | An Erotic Etching - Signed Print | |||
| August 2021 | Sworders - United Kingdom | An Erotic Etching - Signed Print | |||
| June 2021 | Chiswick Auctions - United Kingdom | An Erotic Etching - Signed Print | |||
| May 2021 | Hall's Fine Art - United Kingdom | An Erotic Etching - Signed Print |
Meaning & Analysis
An Erotic Etching is a signed etching by British artist, David Hockney, dating from 1975. Released in an edition of 100, this etching was created for art historian and academic Peter Webb’s seminal publication, The Erotic Arts (1975), and is exemplary of Hockney’s delicate and economical approach to likeness.
Featuring a number of interviews with influential artists of the period, such as Henry Moore, Hans Bellmer, Allen Jones and Hockney himself, Webb’s book was the first scholarly exploration of the importance of eroticism as a source of artistic inspiration. Hockney’s print accompanies the work’s lengthy exploration of the interplay between pornography, societal attitudes towards sex, and artistic production: themes which permeate its visibly erotic subject matter.
A straightforward portrayal of nudity and sexual activity, An Erotic Etching moves away from Hockney’s coded references to homosexuality, characteristic of his hugely famous work We Two Boys Together Clinging (1961), the name of which references a poem by American writer Walt Whitman. Forthright and candid, this etching is a direct reflection of the period in which it was created: produced at a time when homosexuality was no longer illegal in Britain — it was legalised in 1967 — the work sees Hockney explore his own sexuality in a direct and determined fashion.
