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Lot Essay
In 1988, after almost a decade of designing operatic sets and experimenting with photo-collages and printing, David Hockney moved to a small studio in Malibu and returned to the medium of painting. The artist who made Los Angeles swimming pools shimmer in the California light now turned his eye to the vibrant ocean at his doorstep, which he lovingly called the “largest swimming pool in the world” (D. Hockney, quoted in C. Sykes, David Hockney: The Biography, 1975-2012, New York, 2014, p. 272). This 1989 painting, Breakfast by the Sea, is a theatrical ode to the Pacific. It is full of high drama and is persuasive in its ability to force the viewer to look anew at the constantly shifting seascape. There are the echoes of the red frames Hockney used in his massive set design for the opera, Turandot, and the swirling jarring blues from Die Frau Ohne Schatten. In Breakfast by the Sea, Hockney paints the movement of the sea the way he painted Wagnerian sound for the opera. Here, rolling peaks of blue, swirling with white foam, seem to become a set on a stage, waiting for an audience. The painting is a feverish rendering of the ocean, reminiscent of the primal night skies of Van Gogh—for whom the artist had a deep admiration. This movement of the water would continue to hypnotize Hockney for the next few years: “It’s endlessly fascinating watching the water. It gets to be like watching fire: intoxicating, hypnotic” (D. Hockney, ibid., p. 273).
Hockney’s Malibu studio was a place he was fond of painting, however, in this work, the planes of the room have shifted, reorganizing the physical space. Breakfast by the Sea brings to mind another Van Gogh work, Bedroom at Arles, in which he similarly foreshortens the space in the room. Both artists seem to make their most sacred spaces into otherworldly, mystifying rooms. In this work, the ocean outside the glass seems to be entering the room, tilting the walls and taking over the far side of the breakfast table, which is set with tea cups, saucers and a white teakettle. The table looks as if it just might glide out of the window into the Pacific. Hockney brilliantly contrasts a moment of tranquility, the empty table set for breakfast, with a moment of action—the approaching ocean. Ultimately, Breakfast by the Sea is a stellar example of one of Hockney’s most beloved subjects.
Hockney’s Malibu studio was a place he was fond of painting, however, in this work, the planes of the room have shifted, reorganizing the physical space. Breakfast by the Sea brings to mind another Van Gogh work, Bedroom at Arles, in which he similarly foreshortens the space in the room. Both artists seem to make their most sacred spaces into otherworldly, mystifying rooms. In this work, the ocean outside the glass seems to be entering the room, tilting the walls and taking over the far side of the breakfast table, which is set with tea cups, saucers and a white teakettle. The table looks as if it just might glide out of the window into the Pacific. Hockney brilliantly contrasts a moment of tranquility, the empty table set for breakfast, with a moment of action—the approaching ocean. Ultimately, Breakfast by the Sea is a stellar example of one of Hockney’s most beloved subjects.