Details

Artist: David Hockney (British, b. 1937) (1937 - )
Title: Warm Start, from Some New Prints, 1993
Medium: Lithograph in colors on Arches 88 paper.
Image Size: 21 1/2 x 25 1/2 in (54.6 x 64.8 cm)
Sheet Size: 21 1/2 x 25 1/2 in (54.6 x 64.8 cm)
Edition: Numbered from the edition of 68 in pencil in the lower left.
Signature: This work is hand signed by David Hockney (Bradford 1937-) in pencil in the lower right.
Item # W-101991

Historical Description

David Hockney, Warm Start, from Some New Prints, 1993, is one of the most energetic and visually complex works from David Hockney’s Some New Prints series. Created in 1993, the composition brings together abstract forms, intense color, and layered patterns to create an imagined environment that shifts between landscape, interior space, and pure abstraction. Warm Start also served as the starting point for the larger series, establishing the experimental visual language Hockney continued to develop in the works that followed.

During the early 1990s, Hockney returned to printmaking with a growing interest in compositions where texture, movement, and color could define space without relying on traditional perspective. The works in Some New Prints developed alongside his increasingly abstract paintings of the period, translating similar ideas into technically complex graphic images that appear spontaneous while remaining carefully constructed.

Rather than depicting a recognizable place, Warm Start combines densely overlapping shapes, lines, and textured fields within a compact composition. Bold passages of red, pink, yellow, blue, green, and black push against one another, while striped, dotted, and brush-like patterns give each section its own visual rhythm. The image feels crowded yet balanced, constantly directing the viewer’s eye between its contrasting forms. The result is unmistakably Hockney: colorful, playful, experimental, and visually engaging.

Works from Hockney’s early 1990s period are valued for combining his celebrated use of brilliant color with an increasingly abstract approach to space and landscape. Within Some New Prints, Warm Start is especially significant as the composition that initiated the series. Its vivid palette, concentrated energy, and limited production make signed impressions particularly desirable.

Produced in collaboration with the master printers at Gemini G.E.L., Warm Start combines color lithography and screenprinting on Arches 88 wove paper. The layered techniques create a rich contrast between painterly marks, sharply defined patterns, and concentrated areas of color. Published by Gemini G.E.L. in Los Angeles with its blindstamp and copyright inkstamp, the full sheet measures approximately 21½ by 25½ inches.

Museum Collections:

The significance of Warm Start is reflected by its inclusion in the permanent collection of:

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Its presence in this prestigious institution underscores the importance of Some New Prints and Hockney’s innovative contributions to late twentieth-century abstraction and printmaking.

This example, numbered from the limited edition of only 68 and hand signed and dated by David Hockney, represents an outstanding opportunity to acquire one of the artist’s most distinctive abstract print editions. Fourteen artist’s proofs were also produced outside the standard edition, along with a limited number of special proofs. Combining rarity, historical importance, technical complexity, and exceptional craftsmanship, Warm Start is an important work for serious collectors of modern and contemporary art.

David Hockney’s Some New Prints series, created between 1993 and 1994, marks an important shift toward abstraction in his printmaking. Using vivid color, layered textures, organic shapes, and energetic patterns, Hockney created imaginative compositions that move between landscape, interior space, and pure abstraction. Produced with Gemini G.E.L. through combinations of lithography and screenprinting, the series explores movement, depth, and visual rhythm while preserving the spontaneity of drawing and painting.

The works in David Hockney’s Moving Focus Series (1984–1986) include: Slow Forest, Ink in the Room, Four Part Splinge, Blue Hang Cliff, Going Out, Warm Start.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:

David Hockney Warm Start, from Some New Prints, 1993 is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and related texts. Copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the sale of the work.

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, catalogue number 337.
Gemini G.E.L., sequence number 1601 and online catalogue number 23.86.

  1. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this artwork.

David Hockney (British, b. 1937)

Warm Start, from Some New Prints, 1993

Lithograph in colors on Arches 88 paper.
from the edition of 68 in pencil in the lower left.
hand signed by David Hockney (Bradford 1937-) in pencil in the lower right.
 
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