Hockney first encountered Picasso’s work on a visit to London as an art student in 1954, and when an important Picasso show was mounted at the Tate in 1960, Hockney, then a student at the Royal Academy of Art, visited the exhibition eight times. Yet in spite of this early enthusiasm, it was not until the 1970s that the first pictorial references to the Spanish master started to appear in his paintings and prints.
Introduction
When Picasso died in 1973 Hockney was invited to contribute a print to the portfolio Homage to Picasso. Deciding to make an etching he went to the studio of Aldo Crommelynck, Picasso’s master printer, in Paris. It was under Crommelynck’s tutelage that Hockney learnt about the sugar lift aquatint, a method used extensively by Picasso, as well as color etching techniques which he would use later in The Blue Guitar to great effect.
Having long intended to experiment with Cubism, it was the discovery in 1976 of a poem inspired by Picasso’s painting The Old Guitarist (1930) by the American poet Wallace Stevens which would lead to Hockney’s great early homage to the Spanish master’s art, The Blue Guitar.
“I read Wallace Steven’s poem in the summer of 1976. The etchings themselves were not conceived as literal illustrations of the poem but as an interpretation of its themes in visual terms.
Like the poem, they are about transformations within art as well as the relation between reality and the imagination, so these are pictures and different styles of representation juxtaposed and reflected and dissolved within the same frame.”
(Artist’s statement on dustjacket of the catalogue documenting the publication of The Blue Guitar portfolio of etchings, Petersburg Press, London and New York, 1977).
Wallace Stevens’ 1936 Modernist poem The Man with the Blue Guitar was inspired by Pablo Picasso’s Old Guitarist (1903-04) and explores the role of imagination in shaping reality. Taking the epochal image from Picasso’s Blue Period, Stevens transforms the blue man with a guitar, to the blue guitar – a symbol of the imagination – which appears capable of transforming objects and meaning. “Things as they are / Are changed upon the blue guitar” despite apparent demand to play, paint or otherwise depict “things exactly as they are.”
Forty years later, in the summer of 1976, David Hockney was holidaying in Fire Island, New York with the writer Christopher Isherwood and the curator Henry Geldzahler, who introduced Hockney to The Man with the Blue Guitar. No stranger to the compelling influence of Picasso, David Hockney was immediately taken with Stevens’ poetic interpretation of his melancholic portrait.
Hockney had first incorporated fragments of poetry in his 1961 painting, We Two Boys Clinging Together, which integrated two lines from a Walt Whitman poem of the same title. But Stevens’ book-length poem encouraged a much greater creative output from Hockney, who embarked upon an extensive series of twenty etchings, The Blue Guitar: Etchings by David Hockney, who was inspired by Wallace Stevens, who was inspired by Pablo Picasso.
Individual plates are populated with a multitude of references to Picasso’s work including imagery of guitars, still lives, stage sets and distorted perspectives. Figures with Still Life recreates a Cubist scene and echoes Hockney’s earlier etched homage to Picasso, Artist and Model, 1973-74 in which he sits opposite and in visual dialogue with his venerated predecessor. But the final plate, What is this Picasso? provides the most overt reference to Picasso, including his 1937 Portrait of Dora Maar, his muse and lover. The layers of influence continue in perpetuity: Etchings by David Hockney, who was inspired by Wallace Stevens, who was inspired by Pablo Picasso, who was inspired by Dora Maar? Afterall, as Hockney says, “good artists don’t borrow, they steal”.
The Blue Guitar, 1976-77
The Blue Guitar
The complete set of 20 etchings in colors
Medium: Etching printed in colors on Inveresk mould-made wove paper
Year: 1976- 1977
Sheet: 18 x 20 1/2 inches (45.5 x 52 cm)
Edition: 200
Artist’s Proofs: 35 (numbered in Roman numerals)
Publisher: Petersburg Press, London and New York
Printer: Petersburg Studios
Literature: Scottish Arts Council (199-218); Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (178-197)
Signed and numbered in pencil
Plate 1: Title Page (MCAT 178)
Plate 2: The Old Guitarist (MCAT 179)
Plate 3: A Tune From The Blue Guitar (MCAT 180)
Plate 4: It Picks Its Way (MCAT 181)
Plate 5: Franco-American Mail (MCAT 182)
Plate 6: Parade (MCAT 183)
Plate 7: Discord Merely Magnifies (MCAT 184)
Plate 8: The Buzzing Of The Blue Guitar (MCAT 185)
Plate 9: In A Chiaroscuro (MCAT 186)
Plate 10: Figures with Still Life (MCAT 187)
Plate 11: Made In April (MCAT 188)
Plate 12: A Picture of Ourselves (MCAT 189)
Plate 13: The Poet (MCAT 190)
Plate 14: Etching is the Subject (MCAT 191)
Plate 15: Tick It, Tock It, Turn It True (MCAT 192)
Plate 16: I Say They Are (MCAT 193)
Plate 17: On It May Stay His Eye (MCAT 194)
Plate 18: A Moving Still Life (MCAT 195)
Plate 19: Serenade (MCAT 196)
Plate 20: What is This Picasso ? (MCAT 197)
2025 Auction Results
PRELIMINARY AUCTION RESULTS
As of 30 October 2025
2025 Auction Results are presented in reverse chronological order
What is This Picasso?, 1976-77
Phillips New-York: 21 October 2025
Estimated: USD 5,000 – 7,000
USD 11,610
Plate 20 from The Blue Guitar
Titled (printed) on the reverse (there were also 35 artist’s proofs)
Published by Petersburg Press, London and New York
The Old Guitarist, 1976-77
Phillips New-York: 21 October 2025
Estimated: USD 4,000 – 6,000
USD 4,515
Plate 2 from The Blue Guitar
Titled (printed) on the reverse (there were also 35 artist’s proofs)
Published by Petersburg Press, London and New York
The Poet, 1976-77
Phillips New-York: 21 October 2025
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 2,580
Plate 13 from The Blue Guitar
Etching and aquatint in colors on Inveresk mould-made paper
Titled (printed) on the reverse (there were also 35 artist’s proofs)
Published by Petersburg Press, London and New York
Etching is the Subject, 1976-77
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 2,580
Plate 14 from The Blue Guitar
Signed and numbered 72/200 in pencil on the front
Titled (printed) on the reverse (there were also 35 artist’s proofs)
Published by Petersburg Press, London and New York
Franco-American Mail, 1976-77
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 4,128
Plate 5 from The Blue Guitar
Signed and numbered 72/200 in pencil on the front
Titled (printed) on the reverse (there were also 35 artist’s proofs)
Published by Petersburg Press, London and New York
Serenade, 1976-77
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 5,805
Plate 19 from The Blue Guitar
Signed and numbered 72/200 in pencil on the front
Titled (printed) on the reverse (there were also 35 artist’s proofs)
Published by Petersburg Press, London and New York
A Picture of Ourselves, 1976-77
Heritage Auctions: 16 October 2025
Estimated: USD 4,000 – 6,000
USD 4,375
DAVID HOCKNEY (b. 1937)
A Picture of Ourselves (MCAT 189), 1976-1977
from The Blue Guitar
Etching and aquatint in colors on wove paper
Ed. 176/200 (aside from 35 proofs)
Signed and editioned in pencil along lower edge
Published and printed by Petersburg Press Ltd., London and New York
The Blue Guitar, 1976-77
Bonhams LA: 7 October 2025
Estimated: USD 40,000 – 60,000
USD 70,350
COMPLETE SET
The complete portfolio
Comprising 20 etchings with aquatint in colors on Inveresk mould-made paper
Each signed in pencil and annotated ‘A.P. XIX/XXXV’
An artist’s proof, aside from the edition of 200 in Arabic numerals
With justification and title page, loose (as issued)
With original leather-covered portfolio case
Franco-American Mail, 1976-77
Mallet Japan: 2 October 2025
Estimated: JPY 350,000 – 450,000
JPY 350,000 (Hammer)
JPY 407,750 / USD 2,770
DAVID HOCKNEY
Franco-American Mail, Pl.5 from ‘The Blue Guitar’, 1976-77
(Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo 182/ Scottish Arts Council 203)
Etching, softground etching and aquatint in colors on Inveresk mould-made paper
Signed in pencil, numbered 56/200 (there were also 35 proofs)
Made in April, 1976-77
Mallet Japan: 2 October 2025
Estimated: JPY 300,000 – 400,000
JPY 300,000 (Hammer)
JPY 349,500 / USD 2,375
DAVID HOCKNEY
Made in April, Pl.11 from ‘The Blue Guitar’, 1976-77
(Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo 188/ Scottish Arts Council 209)
Softground etching and aquatint in colours on Inveresk mould-made paper
Signed in pencil, numbered 56/200 (there were also 35 proofs)
The Poet, 1976-77
Mallet Japan: 2 October 2025
Estimated: JPY 350,000 – 450,000
JPY 350,000 (Hammer)
JPY 407,750 / USD 2,770
DAVID HOCKNEY
The Poet, Pl.13 from ‘The Blue Guitar’, 1976-77
(Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo 190/ Scottish Arts Council 211)
Etching and aquatint in colors on Inveresk mould-made paper
Signed in pencil, numbered 21/200 (there were also 35 proofs)
It Picks Its Way, 1976-77
Estimated: GBP 1,000 – 1,500
GBP 4,128 / USD 5,615
The Old Guitarist, 1976-77
Estimated: GBP 2,000 – 3,000
GBP 5,418 / USD 7,370
One of 35 artist’s proofs in Roman numerals, the edition was 200
Title Page, 1976-77
Estimated: GBP 1,000 – 1,500
GBP 1,115 / USD 1,525
DAVID HOCKNEY (British b. 1937-)
The Blue Guitar, 1 (Tokyo MCA 178), 1976-77
Etching with aquatint printed in colours on Inveresk wove
Signed and numbered 106/200 in pencil,
Published by Petersburg Press, London
What is this Picasso?, 1976-77
SBI Art Auction: 12 July 2025
Estimated: JPY 300,000 – 500,000
JPY 1,610,000 / USD 10,925
DAVID HOCKNEY
What is this Picasso?, 20 from The Blue Guitar (M.C.A.T. 197), 1976 – 1977
Etching, softground etching and aquatint
Signed and numbered
From the edition of 200
It Picks Its Way, 1976-77
Estimated: GBP 1,200 – 1,800
GBP 2,048 / USD 2,760
Etching and aquatint in colors on Inveresk mould-made paper
Signed and numbered 161/200 in pencil
The Buzzing of the Blue Guitar, 1976-77
Bonhams London: 16 April 2025
Estimated: GBP 1,500 – 2,000
GBP 2,048 / USD 2,710
Etching with aquatint in colours
A Moving Still Life, 1976-77
Rago: 12 February 2025
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 4,826
DAVID HOCKNEY (b.1937)
A Moving Still Life (from The Blue Guitar portfolio) (SAC 216/MCAT 195), 1976-77
Etching and aquatint in colors on Inveresk mould-made
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘164/200 David Hockney’
On It May Stay His Eye, 1976-77
Rago: 12 February 2025
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 4,620
DAVID HOCKNEY (b.1937)
On It May Stay His Eye (from The Blue Guitar portfolio) (SAC 215 / MCAT 194), 1976-77
Etching and aquatint in colors on Inversek mould-made
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘164/200 David Hockney’
I Say They, 1976-77
Rago: 12 February 2025
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 5,016
DAVID HOCKNEY (b.1937)
I Say They (from The Blue Guitar portfolio) (SAC 214 / MCAT 193), 1976-77
Etching and aquatint in colors on Inversek mould-made
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘164/200 David Hockney’
A Tune, 1976-77
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 2,540
2024 Auction Results
The Old Guitarist, 1976-77
Rago: 14 February 2024
Estimated: USD 3,000 – 5,000
USD 5,292
DAVID HOCNEY (b.1937)
The Old Guitarist (from the Blue Guitar portfolio) (MCAT 179), 1976-77
Hard-ground etching and aquatint in colors
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘164/200 David Hockney’
A Tune, 1976-77
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 3,200
Etching in colors on wove paper
Signed in pencil and numbered 148/200
A Tune, 1976-77
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 3,276
It Picks Its Way, 1976-77
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 2,772
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘164/200 David Hockney’
Franco-American Mail, 1976-77
Bonhams New-York: 14 August 2024
Estimated: USD 2,000 – 3,000
USD 3,200
Etching, soft-ground etching and aquatint in colors on Inveresk mould-made paper
Signed in pencil and numbered 164/200
Franco-American Mail, 1976-77
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 3,024
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘164/200 David Hockney’
Franco-American Mail, 1976-77
Bukowskis Stockholm: 21 May 2024
Estimated: SEK 20,000 – 25,000
SEK 38,000 (Hammer)
SEK 47,500 / USD 4,445
Etching and color aquatint
Signed in pencil and numbered 168/200
Parade, 1976-77
Rago: 4 June 2024
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 3,276
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘164/200 David Hockney’
Discord Merely Magnifies, 1976-77
Rago: 14 February 2024
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 3,780
DAVID HOCKNEY b.1937
Discord Merely Magnifies (from The Blue Guitar portfolio) (MCAT 184), 1976-77
Etching and aquatint in colors on Inveresk mould-made
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘164/200 David Hockney’
The Buzzing of the Blue Guitar, 1976-77
Rago: 14 February 2024
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 3,024
DAVID HOCKNEY (b.1937)
The Buzzing of the Blue Guitar (from The Blue Guitar portfolio) (MCAT 185), 1976-77
Etching and aquatint in colors on Inveresk mould-made
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘164/200 David Hockney’
In A Chiaroscuro, 1976-77
Rago: 4 June 2024
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 3,528
Figures in a Still Life, 1976-77
Rago: 16 October 2024
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 2,772
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘164/200 David Hockney’
Figures in a Still Life, 1976-77
Estimated: USD 1,000 – 1,500
DAVID HOCKNEY
Figures in a Still Life (from the The Blue Guitar portfolio), 1977
Etching and aquatint in colors
Signed and numbered to lower margin ‘180/200 David Hockney’
Figures in a Still Life, 1976-77
Bukowskis Stockholm: 21 May 2024
Estimated: SEK 20,000 – 25,000
SEK 38,000 (Hammer)
SEK 47,500 / USD 4,445
Etching and color aquatint
Signed in pencil and numbered 168/200
A Picture of Ourselves, 1976-77
Bukowskis Stockholm: 22 October 2024
Estimated: SEK 25,000 – 30,000
SEK 60,000 / USD 5,680
Etching and aquatint
Signed in pencil and numbered 107/200
Etching is The Subject, 1976-77
Bukowskis Stockholm: 22 October 2024
Estimated: SEK 20,000 – 25,000
SEK 32,500 / USD 3,075
Etching and aquatint in colors
Etching is The Subject, 1976-77
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 3,276
Tick it, Tock it, Turn it True, 1976-77
Rago: 16 October 2024
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 4,032
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘164/200 David Hockney’
I Say They Are, 1976-77
Rago: 16 October 2024
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 3,276
On It May Stay His Eye, 1976-77
Rago: 16 October 2024
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 3,024
DAVID HOCKNEY (b.1937)
On It May Stay His Eye (from The Blue Guitar portfolio) (SAC 215 / MCAT 194), 1976-77
Etching and aquatint on Inversek mould-made
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘164/200 David Hockney’
A Moving Still Life, 1976-77
Rago: 16 October 2024
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 3,024
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘164/200 David Hockney’
Serenade, 1976-77
Christie’s New-York: 17 December 2024
Estimated: USD 2,200 – 2,800
USD 6,048
DAVID HOCKNEY (B. 1937)
Serenade, from The Blue Guitar, 1976-1977
Etching and aquatint in colors on Inveresk mould-made paper
Signed in pencil, numbered 103/200
Serenade, 1976-77
Rago: 14 February 2024
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 5,292
DAVID HOCKNEY (b.1937)
Serenade (from The Blue Guitar portfolio) (MCAT 196), 1976-77
Etching and aquatint in colors on Inveresk mould-made
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘164/200 David Hockney’
What is This Picasso?, 1976-77
Sotheby’s New-York: 4 March 2024
Estimated: USD 3,000 – 5,000
USD 5,080
DAVID HOCKNEY (b. 1937)
What is this Picasso?, from The Blue Guitar (SAC 218; MCAT 197), 1976-77
Etching and aquatint printed in colors on Inveresk mould-made paper
Signed in pencil (lower right); numbered 136/200 (lower left)
What is This Picasso?, 1976-77
Rago: 14 February 2024
Estimated: USD 3,000 – 5,000
USD 4,410
DAVID HOCKNEY (b.1937)
What is This Picasso? (from The Blue Guitar portfolio) (MCAT 197), 1976-77
Etching and aquatint in colors on Inveresk mould-made
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘164/200 David Hockney’
Title Page (MCAT 178)
Estimated: GBP 1,000 – 1,500
GBP 1,115 / USD 1,525
DAVID HOCKNEY (British b. 1937-)
The Blue Guitar, 1 (Tokyo MCA 178), 1976-77
Etching with aquatint printed in colours on Inveresk wove
Signed and numbered 106/200 in pencil,
Published by Petersburg Press, London
The Old Guitarist (MCAT 179)
Phillips New-York: 21 October 2025
Estimated: USD 4,000 – 6,000
USD 4,515
Plate 2 from The Blue Guitar
Titled (printed) on the reverse (there were also 35 artist’s proofs)
Published by Petersburg Press, London and New York
Estimated: GBP 2,000 – 3,000
GBP 5,418 / USD 7,370
One of 35 artist’s proofs in Roman numerals, the edition was 200
Rago: 14 February 2024
Estimated: USD 3,000 – 5,000
USD 5,292
DAVID HOCNEY (b.1937)
The Old Guitarist (from the Blue Guitar portfolio) (MCAT 179), 1976-77
Hard-ground etching and aquatint in colors
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘164/200 David Hockney’
Phillips London: 7 June 2023
Estimated: GBP 2,000 – 3,000
GBP 6,985 / USD 8,690
Titled (printed) on the reverse
Phillips London: 13 September 2022
Estimated: GBP 2,000 – 3,000
GBP 8,190 / USD 9,575
A Tune (MCAT 180)
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 2,540
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 3,200
Etching in colors on wove paper
Signed in pencil and numbered 148/200
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 3,276
It Picks Its Way (MCAT 181)
Estimated: GBP 1,000 – 1,500
GBP 4,128 / USD 5,615
Bonhams London: 25 June 2025
Estimated: GBP 1,200 – 1,800
GBP 2,048 / USD 2,760
Etching and aquatint in colors on Inveresk mould-made paper
Signed and numbered 161/200 in pencil
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 2,772
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘164/200 David Hockney’
Franco-American Mail (MCAT 182)
Mallet Japan: 2 October 2025
Estimated: JPY 350,000 – 450,000
JPY 350,000 (Hammer)
JPY 407,750 / USD 2,770
DAVID HOCKNEY
Franco-American Mail, Pl.5 from ‘The Blue Guitar’, 1976-77
(Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo 182/ Scottish Arts Council 203)
Etching, softground etching and aquatint in colors on Inveresk mould-made paper
Signed in pencil, numbered 56/200 (there were also 35 proofs)
Bonhams New-York: 14 August 2024
Estimated: USD 2,000 – 3,000
USD 3,200
Etching, soft-ground etching and aquatint in colors on Inveresk mould-made paper
Signed in pencil and numbered 164/200
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 3,024
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘164/200 David Hockney’
Bukowskis Stockholm: 21 May 2024
Estimated: SEK 20,000 – 25,000
SEK 38,000 (Hammer)
SEK 47,500 / USD 4,445
Etching and color aquatint
Signed in pencil and numbered 168/200
Parade (MCAT 183)
Rago: 4 June 2024
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 3,276
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘164/200 David Hockney’
Discord Merely Magnifies (MCAT 184)
Rago: 14 February 2024
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 3,780
DAVID HOCKNEY b.1937
Discord Merely Magnifies (from The Blue Guitar portfolio) (MCAT 184), 1976-77
Etching and aquatint in colors on Inveresk mould-made
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘164/200 David Hockney’
Christie’s London: 27 September 2023
Estimated: GBP 2,000 – 3,000
GBP 3,780
DAVID HOCKNEY (B. 1937)
Discord Merely Magnifies, from: The Blue Guitar, 1976-77
Etching and aquatint in colors on wove paper
Signed in pencil, numbered 198/200
The Buzzing Of The Blue Guitar (MCAT 185)
Bonhams London: 16 April 2025
Estimated: GBP 1,500 – 2,000
GBP 2,048 / USD 2,710
Etching with aquatint in colours
Rago: 14 February 2024
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 3,024
DAVID HOCKNEY (b.1937)
The Buzzing of the Blue Guitar (from The Blue Guitar portfolio) (MCAT 185), 1976-77
Etching and aquatint in colors on Inveresk mould-made
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘164/200 David Hockney’
In A Chiaroscuro (MCAT 186)
Rago: 4 June 2024
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 3,528
Christie’s London: 27 September 2023
Estimated: GBP 2,000 – 3,000
GBP 3,780
DAVID HOCKNEY (B. 1937)
In a Chiaroscuro, from: The Blue Guitar, 1976-77
Etching in colors on wove paper
Signed in pencil, numbered 15/200
Figures in a Still Life (MCAT 187)
Rago: 16 October 2024
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 2,772
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘164/200 David Hockney’
Estimated: USD 1,000 – 1,500
DAVID HOCKNEY
Figures in a Still Life (from the The Blue Guitar portfolio), 1977
Etching and aquatint in colors
Signed and numbered to lower margin ‘180/200 David Hockney’
Bukowskis Stockholm: 21 May 2024
Estimated: SEK 20,000 – 25,000
SEK 38,000 (Hammer)
SEK 47,500 / USD 4,445
Etching and color aquatint
Signed in pencil and numbered 168/200
Made in April (MCAT 188)
Mallet Japan: 2 October 2025
Estimated: JPY 300,000 – 400,000
JPY 300,000 (Hammer)
JPY 349,500 / USD 2,375
DAVID HOCKNEY
Made in April, Pl.11 from ‘The Blue Guitar’, 1976-77
(Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo 188/ Scottish Arts Council 209)
Softground etching and aquatint in colours on Inveresk mould-made paper
Signed in pencil, numbered 56/200 (there were also 35 proofs)
Rago: 14 December 2023
Estimated: USD 1,000 – 1,500
USD 1,512
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘164/200 David Hockney’
A Picture of Ourselves (MCAT 189)
Heritage Auctions: 16 October 2025
Estimated: USD 4,000 – 6,000
USD 4,375
DAVID HOCKNEY (b. 1937)
A Picture of Ourselves (MCAT 189), 1976-1977
from The Blue Guitar
Etching and aquatint in colors on wove paper
Ed. 176/200 (aside from 35 proofs)
Signed and editioned in pencil along lower edge
Published and printed by Petersburg Press Ltd., London and New York
Bukowskis Stockholm: 22 October 2024
Estimated: SEK 25,000 – 30,000
SEK 60,000 / USD 5,680
Etching and aquatint
Signed in pencil and numbered 107/200
Phillips New-York: 26 October 2023
Estimated: USD 2,000 – 3,000
USD 2,413
Phillips London: 13 September 2022
Estimated: GBP 1,500 – 2,000
GBP 5,292
DAVID HOCKNEY
A Picture of Ourselves, plate 12 from The Blue Guitar (S.A.C. 210, M.C.A.T. 189), 1976-77
Etching and aquatint in colors on Inveresk mould-made paper
Signed and numbered 90/200 in pencil (there were also 35 artist’s proofs)
The Poet (MCAT 190)
Phillips New-York: 21 October 2025
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 2,580
Plate 13 from The Blue Guitar
Etching and aquatint in colors on Inveresk mould-made paper
Titled (printed) on the reverse (there were also 35 artist’s proofs)
Published by Petersburg Press, London and New York
Mallet Japan: 2 October 2025
Estimated: JPY 350,000 – 450,000
JPY 350,000 (Hammer)
JPY 407,750 / USD 2,770
DAVID HOCKNEY
The Poet, Pl.13 from ‘The Blue Guitar’, 1976-77
(Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo 190/ Scottish Arts Council 211)
Etching and aquatint in colors on Inveresk mould-made paper
Signed in pencil, numbered 21/200 (there were also 35 proofs)
Rago: 14 December 2023
Estimated: USD 1,000 – 1,500
USD 1,386
Phillips London: 13 September 2022
Estimated: GBP 1,500 – 2,000
GBP 4,032 / USD 4,715
DAVID HOCKNEY
The Poet, plate 13 from The Blue Guitar (S.A.C. 211, M.C.A.T. 190), 1976-77
Etching and aquatint in colors on Inveresk mould-made paper
Signed and numbered 67/200 in pencil
Etching is the Subject (MCAT 191)
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 2,580
Plate 14 from The Blue Guitar
Signed and numbered 72/200 in pencil on the front
Titled (printed) on the reverse (there were also 35 artist’s proofs)
Published by Petersburg Press, London and New York
Bukowskis Stockholm: 22 October 2024
Estimated: SEK 20,000 – 25,000
SEK 32,500 / USD 3,075
Etching and aquatint in colors
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 3,276
Phillips London: 13 September 2022
Estimated: GBP 1,500 – 2,000
GBP 4,410
DAVID HOCKNEY
Etching is the Subject, plate 14 from The Blue Guitar (S.A.C. 212, M.C.A.T. 191), 1976-77
Etching and aquatint in colors on Inveresk mould-made paper
Signed and numbered 67/200 in pencil
Tick it, Tock it, Turn it True (MCAT 192)
Rago: 16 October 2024
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 4,032
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘164/200 David Hockney’
I Say They Are (MCAT 193)
SBI Art Auction: 23 May 2025
Estimated: JPY 300,000 – 500,000
JPY 460,000 / USD 3,225
DAVID HOCKNEY
I Say They Are, 16 from The Blue Guitar (M.C.A.T. 193), 1976 – 1977
Etching and aquatint
Signed and numbered
From the edition of 200
Rago: 12 February 2025
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 5,016
DAVID HOCKNEY (b.1937)
I Say They (from The Blue Guitar portfolio) (SAC 214 / MCAT 193), 1976-77
Etching and aquatint in colors on Inversek mould-made
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘164/200 David Hockney’
Rago: 16 October 2024
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 3,276
Phillips London: 13 September 2022
Estimated: GBP 1,500 – 2,000
GBP 4,410
DAVID HOCKNEY
I Say They Are, plate 16 from The Blue Guitar (S.A.C 214, M.C.A.T. 193), 1976-77
Etching and aquatint in colors on Inveresk mould-made paper
Signed and numbered 67/200 in pencil
On It May Stay His Eye (MCAT 194)
Rago: 12 February 2025
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 4,620
DAVID HOCKNEY (b.1937)
On It May Stay His Eye (from The Blue Guitar portfolio) (SAC 215 / MCAT 194), 1976-77
Etching and aquatint in colors on Inversek mould-made
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘164/200 David Hockney’
Rago: 16 October 2024
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 3,024
DAVID HOCKNEY (b.1937)
On It May Stay His Eye (from The Blue Guitar portfolio) (SAC 215 / MCAT 194), 1976-77
Etching and aquatint on Inversek mould-made
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘164/200 David Hockney’
A Moving Still Life (MCAT 195)
Rago: 12 February 2025
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 4,826
DAVID HOCKNEY (b.1937)
A Moving Still Life (from The Blue Guitar portfolio) (SAC 216/MCAT 195), 1976-77
Etching and aquatint in colors on Inveresk mould-made
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘164/200 David Hockney’
Rago: 16 October 2024
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 3,024
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘164/200 David Hockney’
Serenade (MCAT 196)
Christie’s New-York: 17 December 2024
Estimated: USD 2,200 – 2,800
USD 6,048
DAVID HOCKNEY (B. 1937)
Serenade, from The Blue Guitar, 1976-1977
Etching and aquatint in colors on Inveresk mould-made paper
Signed in pencil, numbered 103/200
Rago: 14 February 2024
Estimated: USD 2,500 – 3,500
USD 5,292
DAVID HOCKNEY (b.1937)
Serenade (from The Blue Guitar portfolio) (MCAT 196), 1976-77
Etching and aquatint in colors on Inveresk mould-made
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘164/200 David Hockney’
Christie’s London: 27 September 2023
Estimated: GBP 2,000 – 3,000
GBP 4,032
DAVID HOCKNEY (B. 1937)
Serenade, from: The Blue Guitar, 1976-77
Etching and aquatint in colors on wove paper
Signed in pencil, numbered 156/200
Phillips London: 13 September 2022
Estimated: GBP 1,500 – 2,000
GBP 5,292
DAVID HOCKNEY
Serenade, plate 19 from The Blue Guitar (S.A.C. 217, M.C.A.T. 196), 1976-77
Etching and aquatint in colours, on Inveresk mould-made paper, with full margins.
Signed and numbered 67/200 in pencil
What is This Picasso ? (MCAT 197)
Phillips New-York: 21 October 2025
Estimated: USD 5,000 – 7,000
USD 11,610
Plate 20 from The Blue Guitar
Titled (printed) on the reverse (there were also 35 artist’s proofs)
Published by Petersburg Press, London and New York
SBI Art Auction: 12 July 2025
Estimated: JPY 300,000 – 500,000
JPY 1,610,000 / USD 10,925
DAVID HOCKNEY
What is this Picasso?, 20 from The Blue Guitar (M.C.A.T. 197), 1976 – 1977
Etching, softground etching and aquatint
Signed and numbered
From the edition of 200
Sotheby’s New-York: 4 March 2024
Estimated: USD 3,000 – 5,000
USD 5,080
DAVID HOCKNEY (b. 1937)
What is this Picasso?, from The Blue Guitar (SAC 218; MCAT 197), 1976-77
Etching and aquatint printed in colors on Inveresk mould-made paper
Signed in pencil (lower right); numbered 136/200 (lower left)
Rago: 14 February 2024
Estimated: USD 3,000 – 5,000
USD 4,410
DAVID HOCKNEY (b.1937)
What is This Picasso? (from The Blue Guitar portfolio) (MCAT 197), 1976-77
Etching and aquatint in colors on Inveresk mould-made
Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘164/200 David Hockney’
Phillips London: 13 September 2022
Estimated: GBP 2,000 – 3,000
GBP 11,970
DAVID HOCKNEY
What is This Picasso?, plate 20 from The Blue Guitar (S.A.C. 218, M.C.A.T. 197), 1976-77
Etching and aquatint in colors on Inveresk mould-made paper
Signed and numbered 67/200 in pencil
Complete Sets
Bonhams LA: 7 October 2025
Estimated: USD 40,000 – 60,000
USD 70,350
COMPLETE SET
The complete portfolio
Comprising 20 etchings with aquatint in colors on Inveresk mould-made paper
Each signed in pencil and annotated ‘A.P. XIX/XXXV’
An artist’s proof, aside from the edition of 200 in Arabic numerals
With justification and title page, loose (as issued)
With original leather-covered portfolio case
Sotheby’s London: 15 November 2023
Estimated: GBP 30,000 – 50,000
GBP 40,640 / USD 50,775
COMPLETE SET
DAVID HOCKNEY (b. 1937)
The Blue Guitar (S.A.C. 199-217; MCA Tokyo 178-197), 1976-77
The complete portfolio comprising 20 etchings with aquatint printed in colors on Inveresk mould-made paper
Together with the title page, table of contents and justification in the original leather-bound portfolio case
Each sheet signed in pencil and numbered 115/200, with their stamped titles verso
Christie’s online: 19 July 2023
Estimated: USD 40,000 – 60,000
USD 81,900
DAVID HOCKNEY (B. 1937)
The Blue Guitar, 1976-1977
The complete set of twenty etchings with aquatint in colors on Inveresk mould-made paper
Each signed in pencil, with their stamped titles on the reverse
Numbered 163/200
Together with the title, table of contents and text pages
Lacking the original portfolio case
Christie’s New-York: 19 April 2023
Estimated: USD 40,000 – 60,000
USD 81,900
AUCTION RECORD FOR THE BLUE GUITAR COMPLETE SET
DAVID HOCKNEY (B. 1937)
The Blue Guitar, 1976-1977
The complete set of twenty etchings in colors
Each signed in pencil, with the stamped title on the reverse, numbered ‘AP XXXI/XXXV’
(an artist’s proof set, the edition was 200)
Together with the title, text and table of contents pages
Together with the original leather covered portfolio case with title embossed on the front
Phillips London: 13 September 2022
Estimated: GBP 30,000 – 50,000
GBP 52,920 / USD 61,860
DAVID HOCKNEY
The Blue Guitar (S.A.C. 199-218, M.C.A.T 178-197), 1976-77
The complete set of 20 etching and aquatints in colors on Inveresk mould-made paper
With table of contents and colophon, the sheets loose
All contained in the original beige leather-covered portfolio with embossed title.
All signed and numbered 167/200 in pencil