Hockney, David
On Hockney's return to California from England in 1968 he worked on three big pictures. One of these was 'California Seascape', for which this is a study. The view is through the window of the home of fellow artist Dick Smith, who lived in Corona del Mar on the Pacific coast. The picture was Smith's suggestion. The other two were a double portrait, 'Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy' and 'American Collectors'.
Hockney was pleased with his studies and the unusual 'picture within a picture’' composition in which interior is of equal importance to the exterior, and he decided to paint the large picture. The finished painting is in a slick, realist style in comparison with this very fluid watercolour.
California Seascape
1968