Gustave Flaubert
Gustave Flaubert
Signed Print
David Hockney
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79 x 56cm, Edition of 25, Etching
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Meaning & Analysis
Gustave Flaubert (1973) is an etching with aquatint in colours on Cirsbrook handmade paper produced by David Hockney during his visit to Paris in 1973. The portrait captures the French author at three-quarter view, looking wistfully towards an indefinite point beyond the picture. The earnest demeanour and austerity of the writer’s pose are softened by Hockney’s use of the sugar-lift etching technique. During his visit to Paris in 1973, Hockney met Aldo Crommelynck, the printer of Picasso’s late etchings. The famous Belgian printmaker introduced Hockney to printing sugar-lift etching plates, Picasso’s beloved method described by him as one thanks to which ”everything is more direct and at the same time more delicate.“
Hockney gave expression to his fascination with Flaubert as he depicted scenes from his short stories, thus joining the rich lineage of artists, such as Auguste Rodin, Alphonse Mucha, and Odilon Redon who engaged with Flaubert’s writing through art. Apart from this portrait, Hockney created Félicité Sleeping With Parrot, an etching of the serving woman based on A Simple Heart, Flaubert’s first short story. The artist said in the context of Flaubert’s writing: ”These stories really affected me, and I felt it was a subject I could get into and really use.“