A Tune 1976 - 1977

David Hockney made this print, A Tune, using etching and aquatint. It's like Hockney is setting the stage for a play; a structural tower on one side is echoed on the other by a rocky spire, but, instead of actors, there are vividly-coloured paintbrushes. These brushes pop against the stark, linear outlines of the surrounding elements. It’s so sparse it makes you wonder, what’s the tune? You can sense Hockney's curiosity, as if he's asking himself, ‘what if I put this with that?’ It's like a mental sketch, a playful arrangement of forms and ideas, inviting us to imagine our own connections. You see this kind of experimental composition in the work of late Picabia. Ultimately, I think, it’s about the conversation between seeing and feeling, turning everyday objects into something slightly surreal.