Franco-American Mail
Franco-American Mail
Signed Print
David Hockney
£2,250-£3,400Value
Indicator
$4,300-$6,500 Value Indicator
$3,850-$6,000 Value Indicator
¥20,000-¥30,000 Value Indicator
€2,650-€3,950 Value Indicator
$22,000-$35,000 Value Indicator
¥420,000-¥630,000 Value Indicator
$2,850-$4,300 Value Indicator
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
Format: Signed Print
Year: 1977
Size: H 46cm x W 53cm
Edition size: 200
Signed: Yes
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Track auction value trend
The value of David Hockney’s Franco-American Mail, a signed etching from 1977, is estimated to be worth between £2,250 and £3,400. Over the past five years, the hammer price ranges from £1,064 in October 2022 to £3,175 in September 2022. This artwork has shown consistent value growth, with an impressive average annual growth rate of 15%. Since its first auction sale in June 2004, this work has been sold 16 times in countries such as Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Japan, and the United States. The edition size of this artwork is limited to 200.
Auction Results
| Auction Date | Auction House | Artwork | Hammer Price | Return to Seller | Buyer Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2022 | Galerie Gloggner Luzern - Switzerland | Franco-American Mail - Signed Print | |||
| September 2022 | Phillips London - United Kingdom | Franco-American Mail - Signed Print | |||
| September 2020 | Sotheby's Online - United Kingdom | Franco-American Mail - Signed Print | |||
| August 2018 | Forum Auctions London - United Kingdom | Franco-American Mail - Signed Print | |||
| May 2018 | Bonhams New York - United States | Franco-American Mail - Signed Print | |||
| March 2018 | Forum Auctions London - United Kingdom | Franco-American Mail - Signed Print | |||
| July 2017 | Bonhams Knightsbridge - United Kingdom | Franco-American Mail - Signed Print |
Meaning & Analysis
Allegorical and reference-laden, Franco-American Mail (1977) by David Hockney is a soft-ground etching divided into nine rectangles, each containing up to three evocative images. Direct allusions to Wallace Stevens’ poem The Man With The Blue Guitar (1937) are found at the centre of the print and in the upper right edge, where subtle outlines of a guitar body feature. Hockney’s departure from naturalism around 1975 is said to have been inspired by the discovery of Stevens’ poem during a holiday on Fire Island. In it, the American poet explores the image of a man who ‘do[es] not play things as they are’. The central idea of The Man With The Blue Guitar is imaginative freedom, bringing to the forefront of art the subjective experience of reality rather than striving for a single, realistic viewpoint. The image of a pipe next to abstract human faces on the right side of the print reminds one of Rene Magritte’s famous painting The Treachery Of Images (1929), further reinforcing the link between art and the private world of imagination.
The images included in the print are rendered mostly in red and blue, a combination described by Hockney as ‘the colours of Matisse’. Exhibiting simple contour lines and a flat, poster-like depiction of abstract forms, the print, indeed, remains in a strong dialogue with the legacy of Henri Matisse at the same time as making overt references to the work of Pablo Picasso through the evocation of Stevens’ poem. Considering its multilayered nature, the print can be seen as Hockney’s homage to the artists who challenged the conventional ways of seeing and significantly shaped his own vision of art.
