Franco-American Mail
Franco-American Mail
Signed Print
David Hockney
£1,650-£2,450
$3,500-$5,000 Value Indicator
$3,000-$4,450 Value Indicator
¥15,000-¥23,000 Value Indicator
€1,900-€2,850 Value Indicator
$16,000-$24,000 Value Indicator
¥310,000-¥450,000 Value Indicator
$2,100-$3,150 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: 200
Year: 1977
Size: H 46cm x W 53cm
Signed: Yes
Format: Signed Print
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Auction Results
| Auction Date | Auction House | Location | Hammer Price | Return to Seller | Buyer Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2024 | Bonhams New York | United States | |||
| June 2024 | Rago | United States | |||
| May 2024 | Bukowskis, Stockholm | Sweden | |||
| October 2022 | Galerie Gloggner Luzern | Switzerland | |||
| September 2022 | Phillips London | United Kingdom | |||
| September 2020 | Sotheby's Online | United Kingdom | |||
| August 2018 | Forum Auctions London | United Kingdom |
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.
