David Hockney

Rocky Mountains and Tired Indians

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About this artwork

This was painted at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where the campus is on the edge of the Rocky Mountains. However Hockney's studio had no windows, so he painted this imaginary picture instead. It is inspired entirely by pictures in magazines and romantic ideas of the 'Wild West'. The nearest 'Indians' are in fact at least three hundred miles from Boulder. The chair was included for compositional purposes, and to explain its being there Hockney called the Indians 'tired'. The striped mountains in the background were a light-hearted response to contemporary striped, abstract paintings by American artists. They may also be influenced by pictures of rock layers from geographical magazines.

Updated before 2020

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David Hockney

David Hockney