In 2010, David Hockney visited Yosemite National Park equipped with a brand-new invention: the iPad. Released by Apple earlier that year, the iPad was fast becoming a popular gadget, but Hockney was one of the first to realize its full potential as an artistic tool. Relishing the immediacy of working on the device, Hockney set about creating 24 iPad drawings en plein air which he titled The Yosemite Suite. In doing so, Hockney asserted himself as an artist for the technological age and brought a unique and pioneering aesthetic to the Yosemite Valley, California – a region which has long served as an arena for artists to showcase their skills.

David Hockney holding his iPad at the exhibition David Hockney: A Bigger Picture, Guggenheim, Bilbao, 2012. Image: REUTERS / Alamy Stock Photo

In 2010 Apple released the first iPad and Hockney’s printmaking technique was once again transformed. Having already experimented with lithography, etching and screen printing, he now turned to the digital to achieve his characteristically striking compositions in bold colors. Indeed, Hockney purchased one of the first iPads when released by Apple and was excited by the larger screen as compared to the iPhone. Once he mastered the Brushes app, he uses to draw this first series of landscape from the Yosemite National Park, directly from the motif, en plein air. They were released a year later in a limited edition of fine prints.

Albert Bierstadt, Merced River, Yosemite Valley, 1866. Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Gift of the sons of William Paton, 1909, 09.214.1

Since the mid-19th century, artists have flocked to the Yosemite Valley, attempting to capture its dramatic scenery and towering rock formations. Published in 1855 – the first widely published images of Yosemite – lithographs after Thomas Ayer’s drawings highlight the beauty and expanse of the unspoilt landscape. Depictions by painters soon followed, with the Hudson River School’s Albert Bierstadt creating Merced River, Yosemite Valley (1866), which currently hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. By the mid-20th century, Yosemite had become one of America’s first designated National Parks as well as a chief source of inspiration for the photographer Ansel Adams, whose images of the region are amongst the most widely recognized. Today, The Ansel Adams Gallery – situated in Yosemite Village – displays original works by Adams, alongside contemporary artists’ responses to the landscape, and aims to educate visitors about the rich artistic culture that has become central to the history of Yosemite.

Ansel Adams, Yosemite Valley, Summer, 1935 (negative), 1976-1979 (print). Image: Philadelphia Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Hauslohner, 1976-213-81, Artwork: © Ansel Adams Publishing Trust

In drawing Yosemite, Hockney actively engages with the region’s important visual history. He offers a refreshing and modern take on the iconic landscape, rendered through distinct digital brushstrokes and his trademark colorful palette. Brushes – Hockney’s favorite app to create work on at the time – allowed the artist to easily draw in situ and experiment with different types of mark making. Utilizing blurring tools and different densities of line, Brushes allowed Hockney to create layered images with both depth and atmosphere.

The Yosemite Suite, Pace Gallery, Palo Alto

Hockney took his iPad to Yosemite National Park in California and proceeded to ‘paint’ 24 views of this majestic valley using the Brushes app. The ease of using a digital medium allowed him to work en plein air just like artists such as Monet and Turner whom he admired. Before David Hockney would have had to use watercolor or pen and ink to make preparatory sketches before transferring the work to an etching plate or lithographic stone but with the iPad he could work directly onto the screen, picking and choosing from hundreds of shades of color and thicknesses of brush without ever getting his hands dirty. And here color abounds. The works recall his paintings and prints from the ’90s with their bold clashing tones – at their most extreme the prints depict bright pink roads, electric blue shadows and acid green trees. Elsewhere the colors are toned down and the contrasts subtly blended.

The Yosemite Suite, Gallery Lelong, Paris

Recognizing the impact of scale in such a setting, Hockney was inspired to experiment with transposing his iPad drawings into large format prints: each print in The Yosemite Suite measures almost a meter by two thirds of a meter, roughly four times the size of the iPad screen on which they were produced. Like the subject they depict, the scale and vibrancy of Hockney’s Yosemite prints are eye catching, and they serve as an early example of the artist’s forays into digital art.

 

The series is also notable for including people. While Hockney is a great lover of portraiture and has painted and sketched many of his friends and lovers over the years, he doesn’t tend to include people in his landscapes. In this way Hockney makes the spectacular landscape into a communal experience, foregoing the traditional perspective of the artist painting in the open air, alone with nature. While still sublime, the valley becomes something that can be enjoyed by everyone, in the same way that digital prints have made Hockney’s art more accessible to a wider audience. For example, Untitled No. 1. is one of only a handful of works from The Yosemite Suite, which contains references to human life. The abstracted figures in the foreground of the work are dwarfed by the huge rock face that looms in the background, emphasizing the enormity of the national park’s landscape.

 

The Yosemite Suite

Medium: iPad drawing in colors printed on wove paper
Year: 2010
Image: 32×24 inches (81.3 x 61 cm)
Sheet: 37×28 inches (94×71 cm)
Edition: 25
Publisher: The Artist
Signed, dated and numbered in pencil with the artist’s blindstamp

 

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The Yosemite Prints

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Untitled #1

Untitled #2

Untitled #3

Untitled #4

Untitled #5

Untitled #6

Untitled #7

Untitled #8

Untitled #9

Untitled #10

Untitled #11

Untitled #12

Untitled #13

Untitled #14

Untitled #15

Untitled #16

Untitled #17

Untitled #18

Untitled #19

Untitled #20

Untitled #21

Untitled #22

Untitled #23

Untitled #24

 

 

 

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Auction Results

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3 prints from the series sold so far at auction in 2024. Untitled #1 sold on 23 July 2024, at Christie’s New-York online for USD 100,800, the highest price achieved by a print from the series in 2024. Untitled #15 sold at SBI Art Auction on 26 October 2024 for JPY 9,545,000 (USD 62,668). Untitled #17 sold at Christie’s New-York online on 26 March 2024, for GBP 44,100 (USD 55,919).

Two prints from The Yosemite Suite sold at auction in 2023: Untitled #21 sold at Phillips in London, on 21 September 2023, for GBP 57,150 (USD 70,450), and Untitled #19 sold at Sotheby’s in New-York, on 9 March 2023 for USD 82,550. Furthermore, one print from the more exclusive, larger size, in edition  of 12, sold at Christie’s in New-York, on 10 March 2023 for USD 378,000.

5 prints from The Yosemite Suite sold at auction in 2022 for a total turnover of USD 517,609, at an average price of USD 103,522. The highest price paid in 2022 was achieved at Phillips in London, on 13 September 2022 for Untitled #1, that sold for GBP 126,000 (USD 145,261). 3 prints sold for more than USD 100,000.

6 prints from The Yosemite Suite sold at auction in 2021 for a total turnover of USD 459,694, at an average price of USD 76,616. The highest price paid in 2021 was achieved at Seoul Auction in Seoul, on 26 October 2022 for Untitled #13, that sold for KRW 109,250,000 (USD 93,735).

 

2025 Auction Results

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Untitled No. 1, 2010

Christie’s New -York: 16 April 2025
Estimated: USD 70,000 – 100,000
USD 138,600

DAVID HOCKNEY (B. 1937)
Untitled No. 1, from The Yosemite Suite, 2010
iPad drawing in colors on wove paper
Signed and dated in pencil, numbered 6⁄25

 

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2024 Auction Results

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3 prints from the series sold so far at auction in 2024. Untitled #1 sold on 23 July 2024, at Christie’s New-York online for USD 100,800, the highest price achieved by a print from the series in 2024. Untitled #15 sold at SBI Art Auction on 26 October 2024 for JPY 9,545,000 (USD 62,668). Untitled #17 sold at Christie’s New-York online on 26 March 2024, for GBP 44,100 (USD 55,919).

#1. Untitled No. 1, 2010

Christie’s online: 23 July 2024
Estimated: USD 60,000 – 80,000
USD 100,800

DAVID HOCKNEY (B. 1937)
Untitled No. 1, from The Yosemite Suite, 2010
iPad drawing in colors on wove paper, 2010
Signed and dated in pencil, numbered 22/25

#2. Untitled No.15, 2010

SBI Art Auction: 26 October 2024
Estimated: JPY 6,000,000 – 9,000,000
JPY 9,545,000 / USD 62,668

DAVID HOCKNEY
Untitled No.15 from “The Yosemite Suite”, 2010
iPad drawing printed on paper
Signed, dated and numbered on the lower right
From the edition of 25

#3. Untitled No. 17, 2010

Christie’s online: 26 March 2024
Estimated: GBP 35,000 – 55,000
GBP 44,100 / USD 55,919

DAVID HOCKNEY (B. 1937)
Untitled No. 17, from: The Yosemite Suite, 2010
iPad drawing in colors on wove paper
Signed, dated and numbered 7/25 in pencil

 

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2023 Auction Results

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2 prints from The Yosemite Suite sold at auction in 2023: Untitled #21 sold at Phillips in London, on 21 September 2023, for GBP 57,150 (USD 70,450), and Untitled #19 sold at Sotheby’s in New-York, on 9 March 2023 for USD 82,550.

Furthermore, one print from the more exclusive, larger size, in edition  of 12, sold at Christie’s in New-York, on 10 March 2023 for USD 378,000.

#1. The Yosemite Suite No. 19, 2010

Sotheby’s New-York: 9 March 2023
Estimated: USD 60,000 – 80,000
USD 82,550

DAVID HOCKNEY
The Yosemite Suite No. 19, 2010
iPad drawing printed in color
Signed, numbered 18/25 and dated ‘10 (lower edge)

#2. Untitled No. 21, 2010

Phillips London: 21 September 2023
Estimated: GBP 35,000 – 45,000
GBP 57,150 / USD 70,450

Christie’s New-York: 10 March 2023
Estimated: USD 200,000 – 300,000
USD 378,000
LARGE FORMAT

DAVID HOCKNEY (B. 1937) (christies.com)

DAVID HOCKNEY (B. 1937)
Yosemite II, October 16th 2011, 2011
iPad drawing printed on four sheets of paper, mounted on four sheets of Dibond
92 3/4 x 69 3/4 inches (235.6 x 177.2 cm)
Signed, numbered and dated ‘David Hockney 9/12 ’11’ (lower right)
This work is number nine from an edition of twelve.

 

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2022 Auction Results

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5 prints from The Yosemite Suite sold at auction in 2022 for a total turnover of USD 517,609, at an average price of USD 103,522. The highest price paid in 2022 was achieved at Phillips in London, on 13 September 2022 for Untitled #1, that sold for GBP 126,000 (USD 145,261). 3 prints sold for more than USD 100,000.

2022 Auction Results

 

#1. Untitled No. 1, 2010

Phillips London: 13 September 2022
Estimated: GBP 50,000 – 70,000
GBP 126,000 / USD 145,261
AUCTION RECORD FOR A PRINT FROM YOSEMITE SERIES

DAVID HOCKNEY
Untitled No. 1, from The Yosemite Suite, 2010
iPad drawing in colors, printed on wove paper, with full margins.
Signed, dated and numbered 23/25 in pencil

#2. Untitled No. 1, 2010

Seoul Auction: 22 February 2022
Estimate: KRW 65,000,000 – 100,000,000
KRW 141,600,000 / USD 118,670

DAVID HOCKNEY
Untitled No. 1 from the Yosemite Suite, 2010
iPad drawing inkjet print
Signed, dated and numbered 16/25 in pencil

#3. Untitled No. 1, 2010

Phillips London: 15 June 2022
Estimated: GBP 30,000 – 50,000
GBP 88,200 / USD 106,188

DAVID HOCKNEY
Untitled No. 1 from the Yosemite Suite, 2010
iPad drawing in colors
Signed, dated and numbered 11/25 in pencil

#4. Untitled No. 14, 2010

Christie’s New-York: 8 March 2022
Estimated: USD 70,000 – 100,000
USD 88,200

DAVID HOCKNEY
Untitled No. 14 from the Yosemite Suite, 2010
iPad drawing in colors
Signed, dated and numbered 16/25 in pencil

#5. Untitled No. 16, 2010

K Auction Seoul: 27 April 2022
Estimated: KRW 65,000,000 – 150,000,000
KRW 74,750,000 / USD 59,290

DAVID HOCKNEY
Untitled No. 16 from the Yosemite Suite, 2010
iPad drawing inkjet print
Signed, dated and numbered 24/25 in pencil

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2021 Auction Results

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6 prints from The Yosemite Suite sold at auction in 2021 for a total turnover of USD 459,694, at an average price of USD 76,616. The highest price paid in 2021 was achieved at Seoul Auction in Seoul, on 26 October 2022 for Untitled #13, that sold for KRW 109,250,000 (USD 93,735).

2021 Auction Results

 

#1. Untitled No. 13, 2010

Seoul Auction: 26 October 2021
Estimated: KRW 50,000,000 – 80,000,000
KRW 109,250,000 / USD 93,735

DAVID HOCKNEY
Untitled No. 13, from The Yosemite Suite, 2010
iPad drawing printed on paper
Signed, dated and numbered 13/25 in pencil

#2. Untitled No. 11, 2010

Phillips London: 21 January 2021
Estimated: GBP 15,000 – 20,000
GBP 63,000 / USD 86,431

#3. Untitled No. 15, 2010

K Auction Seoul: 23 July 2021
Estimated: KRW 80,000,000 – 150,000,000
KRW 92,000,000 / USD 79,940

DAVID HOCKNEY
Untitled No. 15, from The Yosemite Suite, 2010
iPad drawing inkjet print
Signed, dated and numbered 14/25 in pencil

#4. Untitled No. 2, 2010

#5. Untitled No. 21, 2010

Phillips New-York: 22 April 2021
Estimated: USD 30,000 – 50,000
USD 69,300

DAVID HOCKNEY
Untitled No. 24, from The Yosemite Suite, 2010
iPad drawing in colors printed on wove paper
Signed, dated and numbered 20/25 in pencil lower right