Measuring 242.5 centimetres (95.5 in) by 243.9 centimetres (96.0 in), it depicts a swimming pool beside a modern house, disturbed by a large splash of water created by an unseen figure who has apparently just jumped in from a diving board. It was painted in California between April and June 1967, when Hockney was teaching at the University of California, Berkeley. The piece was jokingly priced at £350m – a reference to the leave campaign’s claim.“And I loved the idea of painting this thing that lasts for two seconds; it takes me two weeks to paint this event that lasts for two seconds.The painting sold for £23.1m, the third highest price ever achieved for a Hockney at auction. A Bigger Splash is a large pop art painting by British artist David Hockney. The Splash is a 1966 pop art painting by the British artist David Hockney. The Splash, one of the best-know paintings by British artist David Hockney, has sold at auction for £23.1m to an anonymous buyer. The background is taken from a drawing he had made of Californian buildings. He has captured the moment just after someone has dived in. Typical of David Hockney’s minimalist pop art style, The Splash is part of a series painted in Los Angeles and shows the moment after a diver enters a swimming pool. A Bigger Splash was painted between April and June 1967 when Hockney was teaching at the University of California at Berkeley. Hockney was interested in using paint to capture transparent materials such as water, and fleeting moments, like the splash.
The splash is the only clue to their presence in the scene. Jack Hazan's fictionalised 1973 biopic, A Bigger Splash, concentrating on the break… David Hockney, A Bigger Splash, 1967, Tate Collection, London In 1966 Hockney decided to relocate more permanently to California and took up an apartment/studio near the junction of Pico and Crenshaw Boulevards in Los Angeles. The piece is the second of Hockney’s three “splash” paintings, in which he gave free rein to his lifelong fascination with the appearance of water.“Equally as recognisable as Munch’s series of screams, Monet’s water lilies or Van Gogh’s flowers, Hockney’s splash is ingrained within our cultural imagination.”Hockney, 82, said of the works in 1976: “I love the idea, first of all, of painting like Leonardo, all his studies of water, swirling things.“Everyone knows a splash can’t be frozen in time, so when you see it like that in a painting it’s even more striking than in a photograph.”The 1966 piece by the Bradford-born artist last sold at Sotheby’s in 2006 for £2.9m and returned to the same auction house on Tuesday evening as the star piece in its Contemporary Evening Art Auction.The first work, A Little Splash, is held in a private collection, while the third, A Bigger Splash, belongs to the Tate collection.The painting depicts the moment after a diver hits the water in a swimming pool“Even looking beyond the twentieth century, few artworks have attained as mythic a status as this painting.Emma Baker, head of Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Sale, said: “Not only is this a landmark work within David Hockney’s oeuvre, it’s an icon of Pop [art] that defined an era and also gave a visual identity to LA.Sotheby’s advertised the art work with a more conservative guide price of between £400,000 and £600,000. It depicts a swimming pool beside a pavilion, disturbed by a splash of water created by an unseen figure who has apparently just jumped in from a diving board. Art from David Hockney's Paper Pools series makes a £4.8million splash Pool on a Cloudy Day with Rain has sold for £4,867,900 at Sotheby's in London The … It is made in acrylic on a 72 in (180 cm) square canvas, and is titled, signed and dated 1966 on the reverse. The 1960s are often seen as the time that Britain emerged from the difficulties of the post-war years into a period of optimism. A Bigger Splash is one of a number of paintings Hockney made of Californian swimming pools. The Splash, one of David Hockney ’s most famous works, has sold for more than £23.1m at auction in London. David Hockney's The Splash sold for more than £23m The painting depicts the moment after a diver hits the water in a swimming pool The piece … The image is derived in part from a photograph Hockney discovered in a book on the subject of building swimming pools. https://www.cnn.com/style/article/david-hockney-the-splash-auction This colourful work seems to reflect this feeling.Artist David Hockney reflects on making art for over 60 yearsExplore Hockney's inspiration, techniques and have a go at some splash-inspired activitiesWe explore the themes of Hockney’s work and his various ways of workingExplore the dynamic relationship between performance and painting