Modern British Prints Market Report 2023

Illustrations
For Fourteen Poems By C.P. Cavafy

David Hockney has always considered himself to be something of a literary painter. With his series Illustrations For Fourteen Poems By C.P. Cavafy Hockney chooses to focus on a homosexual poet whose work he admired from a young age.

David Hockney prints for sale

One Night - Signed Print by David Hockney 1966 - MyArtBroker
One Night Signed Print 
David Hockney

£3,200-£4,800 VALUE (EST.)

$6,000-$9,000 VALUE (EST.)

$5,500-$8,000 VALUE (EST.)

¥28,000-¥45,000 VALUE (EST.)

3,750-5,500 VALUE (EST.)

$30,000-$45,000 VALUE (EST.)

¥560,000-¥830,000 VALUE (EST.)

$4,000-$6,000 VALUE (EST.)

29% AAGR (5YR)

TradingFloor

2 in network
3 want this
Two Boys Aged 23 Or 24 - Signed Print by David Hockney 1966 - MyArtBroker
Two Boys Aged 23 Or 24 Signed Print 
David Hockney

£3,550-£5,500 VALUE (EST.)

$7,000-$10,500 VALUE (EST.)

$6,000-$9,500 VALUE (EST.)

¥30,000-¥50,000 VALUE (EST.)

4,150-6,500 VALUE (EST.)

$35,000-$50,000 VALUE (EST.)

¥620,000-¥960,000 VALUE (EST.)

$4,450-$7,000 VALUE (EST.)

-5% AAGR (5YR)

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1 in network
3 want this
The Shop Window Of A Tobacco Store - Signed Print by David Hockney 1966 - MyArtBroker
The Shop Window Of A Tobacco Store Signed Print 
David Hockney

£2,950-£4,450 VALUE (EST.)

$5,500-$8,500 VALUE (EST.)

$4,950-$7,500 VALUE (EST.)

¥26,000-¥40,000 VALUE (EST.)

3,450-5,000 VALUE (EST.)

$29,000-$45,000 VALUE (EST.)

¥510,000-¥770,000 VALUE (EST.)

$3,700-$5,500 VALUE (EST.)

6% AAGR (5YR)

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2 want this
Beautiful And White Flowers - Signed Print by David Hockney 1966 - MyArtBroker
Beautiful And White Flowers Signed Print 
David Hockney

£1,550-£2,300 VALUE (EST.)

$2,950-$4,400 VALUE (EST.)

$2,600-$3,900 VALUE (EST.)

¥14,000-¥20,000 VALUE (EST.)

1,800-2,700 VALUE (EST.)

$15,000-$23,000 VALUE (EST.)

¥270,000-¥400,000 VALUE (EST.)

$1,950-$2,900 VALUE (EST.)

-4% AAGR (5YR)

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1 want this
According To Prescriptions Of Ancient Magicians - Signed Print by David Hockney 1966 - MyArtBroker
According To Prescriptions Of Ancient Magicians Signed Print 
David Hockney

£2,100-£3,150 VALUE (EST.)

$4,000-$6,000 VALUE (EST.)

$3,550-$5,500 VALUE (EST.)

¥19,000-¥28,000 VALUE (EST.)

2,450-3,650 VALUE (EST.)

$21,000-$30,000 VALUE (EST.)

¥370,000-¥550,000 VALUE (EST.)

$2,650-$3,950 VALUE (EST.)

5% AAGR (5YR)

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2 want this
The Beginning - Signed Print by David Hockney 1966 - MyArtBroker
The Beginning Signed Print 
David Hockney

£6,000-£8,500 VALUE (EST.)

$11,500-$16,000 VALUE (EST.)

$10,000-$14,500 VALUE (EST.)

¥50,000-¥80,000 VALUE (EST.)

7,000-10,000 VALUE (EST.)

$60,000-$80,000 VALUE (EST.)

¥1,040,000-¥1,480,000 VALUE (EST.)

$7,500-$10,500 VALUE (EST.)

62% AAGR (5YR)

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2 want this
Portrait Of Cavafy In Alexandria - Signed Print by David Hockney 1966 - MyArtBroker
Portrait Of Cavafy In Alexandria Signed Print 
David Hockney

£3,350-£5,000 VALUE (EST.)

$6,500-$9,500 VALUE (EST.)

$5,500-$8,500 VALUE (EST.)

¥30,000-¥45,000 VALUE (EST.)

3,900-6,000 VALUE (EST.)

$35,000-$50,000 VALUE (EST.)

¥580,000-¥870,000 VALUE (EST.)

$4,200-$6,500 VALUE (EST.)

51% AAGR (5YR)

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1 in network
He Enquired After The Quality - Signed Print by David Hockney 1966 - MyArtBroker
He Enquired After The Quality Signed Print 
David Hockney

£3,150-£4,750 VALUE (EST.)

$6,000-$9,000 VALUE (EST.)

$5,500-$8,000 VALUE (EST.)

¥28,000-¥40,000 VALUE (EST.)

3,650-5,500 VALUE (EST.)

$30,000-$45,000 VALUE (EST.)

¥550,000-¥830,000 VALUE (EST.)

$3,950-$6,000 VALUE (EST.)

62% AAGR (5YR)

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2 in network
1 want this
In The Dull Village - Signed Print by David Hockney 1966 - MyArtBroker
In The Dull Village Signed Print 
David Hockney

£1,900-£2,850 VALUE (EST.)

$3,600-$5,500 VALUE (EST.)

$3,200-$4,800 VALUE (EST.)

¥17,000-¥25,000 VALUE (EST.)

2,200-3,300 VALUE (EST.)

$19,000-$28,000 VALUE (EST.)

¥330,000-¥500,000 VALUE (EST.)

$2,400-$3,550 VALUE (EST.)

TradingFloor

1 in network
1 want this
In Despair - Signed Print by David Hockney 1966 - MyArtBroker
In Despair Signed Print 
David Hockney

£4,850-£7,500 VALUE (EST.)

$9,000-$14,500 VALUE (EST.)

$8,000-$12,500 VALUE (EST.)

¥45,000-¥70,000 VALUE (EST.)

5,500-8,500 VALUE (EST.)

$50,000-$70,000 VALUE (EST.)

¥840,000-¥1,300,000 VALUE (EST.)

$6,000-$9,500 VALUE (EST.)

39% AAGR (5YR)

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1 in network
1 want this
In An Old Book - Signed Print by David Hockney 1966 - MyArtBroker
In An Old Book Signed Print 
David Hockney

£4,500-£7,000 VALUE (EST.)

$8,500-$13,500 VALUE (EST.)

$7,500-$12,000 VALUE (EST.)

¥40,000-¥60,000 VALUE (EST.)

5,000-8,000 VALUE (EST.)

$45,000-$70,000 VALUE (EST.)

¥780,000-¥1,220,000 VALUE (EST.)

$5,500-$9,000 VALUE (EST.)

9% AAGR (5YR)

TradingFloor

3 want this

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Meaning & Analysis

The Illustrations for fourteen poems by C.P Cavafy series demonstrates Hockney’s engagement with literature alongside more overt homosexual themes. With the series Illustrations For Fourteen Poems By C.P. Cavafy Hockney has chosen to focus on a homosexual poet whose work he admired from a young age.

Writing at the beginning of the 20th century, when practicing homosexuality was still illegal in many countries, Cavafy was forced to keep his poems chaste, however his verses do allude to a digression from the norms with lines such as “The young man depicted there / Was not destined for those / Who love in ways that are more or / less healthy, / Inside the bounds of what is clearly / permissible –” But while Cavafy was forced to hide behind suggestion, Hockney laid everything out in the open, his prints often depicting men naked together in bed, such as – perhaps the most famous print from the series – Two Boys Aged 23 or 24, The Beginning and In Despair while In An Old Book shows a full frontal male nude with no attempt to disguise the homoeroticism of the artist’s gaze.

This series was published in 1967, the same year Britain decrimilised homosexuality. In this way it can be read almost as propaganda, a bold celebration of gay love and a call for acceptance and solidarity with a marginalised group that had been carefully ignored by traditional society and culture for centuries. Such was the importance of this series and the time it was published that one of the prints, In the Dull Village, was chosen by British Museum director Neil MacGregor to be included in the famous series A History of the World in 100 Objects. When asked to comment on the series Hockney said, “I was rather proud of it at the time, and yeah, I would have thought of it as good propaganda, I would. And [it] probably helped a little bit. And I would always defend my life as it were – what I was up to. I wasn't speaking for anybody else, but I would certainly defend my way of living, yes. I've never really been an activist, only in my work – that's my job, to do my work, not to spend it doing anything else. But if I played a little part in it, I'm proud. I might have done, I think ... made people open their lives a little bit, perhaps. I'd like to think that.”

While Hockney commissioned his own translations of the poems for this series, he was initially inspired by the copy he borrowed and never returned from Bradford Library in 1960. He began work on the 12 etchings in 1966, with some “drawn from life, some were drawn from my drawings, some were drawn from photographs.” As with many of his other etchings and lithographs, the compositions tend to be spare, with blank white or partially shaded backgrounds, and fine lines delineating the figures.