The Blue Guitar (frontispiece)
The Blue Guitar (frontispiece)
Signed Print
David Hockney
£1,800-£2,750Value
Indicator
$3,450-$5,000 Value Indicator
$3,050-$4,700 Value Indicator
¥16,000-¥25,000 Value Indicator
€2,100-€3,200 Value Indicator
$18,000-$27,000 Value Indicator
¥330,000-¥500,000 Value Indicator
$2,250-$3,450 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 42cm x W 34cm
Edition size: 200
Signed: Yes
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Track auction value trend
David Hockney's 'The Blue Guitar (frontispiece)', a signed etching from 1977, is estimated to be worth £1,850 to £2,750. Despite no sales in the last 12 months, this artwork has been sold at auction nine times since its initial sale in 2008. Over the last five years, the hammer price has varied from £591 in January 2019 to a peak of £2,800 in April 2021, demonstrating a consistent increase in value with an average annual growth rate of 4%. This work has been sold in four different countries, including Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Ireland. The edition size of this artwork is limited to 200.
Auction Results
| Auction Date | Auction House | Artwork | Hammer Price | Return to Seller | Buyer Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2022 | Bonhams New Bond Street - United Kingdom | The Blue Guitar (frontispiece) - Signed Print | |||
| April 2021 | Bonhams Knightsbridge - United Kingdom | The Blue Guitar (frontispiece) - Signed Print | |||
| April 2019 | Phillips New York - United States | The Blue Guitar (frontispiece) - Signed Print | |||
| January 2019 | Phillips London - United Kingdom | The Blue Guitar (frontispiece) - Signed Print | |||
| May 2018 | Forum Auctions London - United Kingdom | The Blue Guitar (frontispiece) - Signed Print | |||
| April 2013 | Christie's London - United Kingdom | The Blue Guitar (frontispiece) - Signed Print | |||
| June 2008 | Uppsala Auktionskammare - Sweden | The Blue Guitar (frontispiece) - Signed Print |
Meaning & Analysis
The frontispiece of The Blue Guitar series acts as an introduction to the whole set of 20 prints and sets the tone in terms of the colour palette of red and blue which dominates the portfolio. Below the title of ‘The Blue Guitar’, the text, in blue and red capitals, reads, ‘ETCHINGS BY DAVID HOCKNEY WHO WAS INSPIRED BY WALLACE STEVENS WHO WAS INSPIRED BY PABLO PICASSO’. Across the top a classical guitar, softly drawn, lies on its side. The works in the series were intended to accompany, but not illustrate, Stevens’s book length poem of 1937, ‘The Man with the Blue Guitar’ which was itself based on a 1903 painting by Picasso entitled The Old Guitarist. Hockney first came across the poem in 1976 when he visited Fire Island with his friends Henry Geldzahler and writer Christopher Isherwood and he immediately got to work on this series of prints which also became a book. Beginning with ink drawings Hockney translated these into coloured etchings thanks to the technique of sugar lift aquatint which he learned in Paris while under the tutelage of Aldo Crommelynck, who had been Picasso's master printer.
