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From David Hockney’s celebrated Six Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm portfolio, an image from the story of Rapunzel, which he chose for its popularity. When illustrating the prince beseeching Rapunzel at the foot of her tower, Hockney appropriated a hunter on horseback from Paolo Uccello’s epic 15th century landscape painting Hunt in the Forest. Hockney illustrates this scene with incredible textural detail: layers of aquatint defining the soft forest floor, delicate hatching on the horse’s haunch, the tower’s tight crosshatching, and of course the lyrical gesture of Rapunzel’s hair which cascades from the upper right corner.
Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair (Six Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm) 1969
Etching and aquatint on W S Hodgkinson paper watermarked “DH” and “PP”
Plate 10.2 x 9.6 in / 25.8 x 24.3 cm
Paper 17.75 x 16 in / 45.09 x 40.64 cm
Unique publisher’s copy aside from the edition of 400 books and 100 portfolios
Small discoloration upper right on the sheet, soft line in the upper sheet