Snow without Color
Medium: Lithograph and screenprint in black, grey and white on Arjomari mould-made paper
Year: 1973
Image: 33 7/8 x 28 1/4 inches (86.2 x 71.7 cm)
Sheet: 39 3/4 x 31 3/4 inches (101.2 x 80.7 cm)
Edition: 38
Artist’s Proofs: 13 AP
Publisher: Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles
Literature: Scottish Arts Council (135), Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (126)
Signed, dated and numbered in pencil with the publisher’s blindstamp and inkstamp on reverse
In a series of landscapes created in 1973, David Hockney sought to capture the intangible nature of atmospheric phenomena. His works are in dialogue with a long lineage of artists fascinated by seasonal change, including Claude Monet, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, and Nicolas Poussin.
In Snow without Color, stately slopes and meditative tree limbs are marked by bands of tonal gradation suggesting spatial recession, a technique that is indebted to the tradition of 19th century ukiyo-e prints. Ukiyo-e translates to “images of the floating world;” Hokusai and other printmakers of this era were focused on capturing the transient beauty of the world around them, which was considered all the more precious because of their fleeting nature. Similarly with Snow, Hockney is not only concerned with a mere representation of the landscape, but also with making concrete the ephemeral conditions of the atmosphere.
Auction Results
Sotheby’s New-York: 18 October 2023
Estimated: USD 25,000 – 35,000
USD 21,590
DAVID HOCKNEY (b.1937)
Snow without Color (S.A.C. 135; M.C.A.T. 126), 1973
Lithograph and screenprint in black, grey and white on Arjomari mould-made paper
Signed in pencil, dated, titled and numbered 17/38
Sotheby’s New-York: 28 October 2022
Estimated: USD 12,000 – 18,000
USD 40,320
DAVID HOCKNEY (b.1937)
Snow without Color (S.A.C. 135; M.C.A.T. 126), 1973
Lithograph and screenprint in black, grey and white on wove paper
Signed in pencil, dated, titled and numbered 29/38
Sotheby’s London: 16 September 2020
Estimated: GBP 20,000 – 30,000
GBP 37,800 / USD 49,075
DAVID HOCKNEY, R.A. (b.1937)
SNOW WITHOUT COLOUR (S.A.C. 135; MCA TOKYO 126), 1973
Lithograph and screenprint in black, grey and white on wove paper
Signed in pencil, dated, titled, numbered 34/38