David Hockney The Buzzing of the Blue Guitar Etching Edition of 200 From The Blue Guitar Series

Artist: David HockneyTitle: "The Buzzing of the Blue Guitar" (from The Blue Guitar Series)Year: 1977Medium: Etching with Aquatint on Inveresk Mould-Made PaperSheet size: 21.65" x 18.9"Plate Size: 16.75" x 13.5"Edition Size: 200 Numbered, 35 Artists Proof (XXXV)Edition Number: 80/200Inscription: Signed "David Hockney"Documentation: Includes Gallery Certificate of Authenticity David Hockney's The Buzzing of the Blue Guitar is a standout work from his 1977 portfolio The Blue Guitar, a series of 20 etchings inspired by Wallace Stevens's poem The Man with the Blue Guitar (1937). Stevens's poem, itself a reflection on Picasso's The Old Guitarist, explores themes of artistic transformation and the tension between reality and imagination—concepts that Hockney renders visually through complex layers of imagery, shifting perspectives, and witty self-referentiality. Rather than directly illustrating the poem, Hockney interprets its philosophical underpinnings, creating "pictures within pictures"