SOUTHBANK CENTRE

David Hockney: Six Tales from the Brothers Grimm

David Hockney, Inside the Castle from The Boy who Left Home to Learn Fear, 1969In this exhibition of etchings illustrating the 6 fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm, Hockney has given each fairy tale his own interpretation. Rather than illustrating the stories literally, he has chosen vivid images to encapsulate a mood or detail. Some of the tales are familiar, like Rapunzel and Rumpelstilzchen; others, such as Old Rinkrank, Fundevogel and The Little Sea Hare are little known.

The tales are drawn from centuries of folklore. As Hockney points out: "The stories weren't written by the Brothers Grimm...they came across this woman called Catherina Dorothea Viehmann, who told 20 stories to them in this simple language, and they were so moved by them that they wrote them down word for word as she spoke."

 

David Hockney, The boy hidden in a fish from The Little Sea Hare, 1969His contemporary and often humorous approach to the tales is reflected in the quirky nature of the images. Of Rapunzel he says "...the stories really are quite mad, when you think of it, and quite strange. In modern times, it's like the story of a couple moving into a house, and in the next door's garden they see this lettuce growing: and the wife develops this craving for the lettuce that she just must have and climbs over to pinch it, and the old woman who lives in the house next door says well, you can have the lettuce if you give me your child, and they agree to it. And if you put it into terms like this and imagine them in their semi-detached house agreeing to it all, it seems incredible."

The 39 etchings were drawn directly onto copper plates by Hockney between May and November 1969. It was a decade in which etching featured strongly for Hockney. As well as Grimms’ Fairy Tales, he made two other important series: A Rake's Progress (1961-3) and Illustrations for Thirteen Poems for CP Cavafy (1966).


Tour Details:


23 May – 31 July
Steinau an der StraBe

20 Sep – 19 Oct
Erddig,  Wrexham

25 Oct – 23 Nov
Winchester Discovery Centre, Winchester

29 Nov 2008 – 4 Jan 2009
AVAILABLE

10 Jan – 8 Feb 2009
Longden Primary School, Longden

Tour continues.

Category C

Top image:
David Hockney, Inside the Castle from The Boy who Left Home to Learn Fear , 1969 © the Artist.
Bottom image:
David Hockney, The boy hidden in a fish from The Little Sea Hare, 1969. © the Artist.