David Hockney, China Diary
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$45.00
$45.00
per item
Hockney, David. China Diary. First Edition. 1982. Book and dust jacket are both in very good condition—the corner of the flyleaf is clipped. Text by Stephen Spender.
Richard Nixon is said to have opened the door to China, but it was David Hockney who painted it. This vibrant and eye-catching book is a record of Hockney’s 1981 journey there with his friend Stephen Spender. It is one of the great travel books. Hockney makes Communist China come alive in much the same way he did for Southern California: via bold watercolors, detailed sketches, and imaginative photography. Spender’s text includes in-depth accounts of conversations with Hockney throughout their journey and is equally captivating.
“The problem of going to a place and taking photographs is this: you are looking through a frame, seeing separate pictures framed up, peripheral vision stops. You don’t see everything if you take photographs. It’s a paradox.”
--David Hockney
Richard Nixon is said to have opened the door to China, but it was David Hockney who painted it. This vibrant and eye-catching book is a record of Hockney’s 1981 journey there with his friend Stephen Spender. It is one of the great travel books. Hockney makes Communist China come alive in much the same way he did for Southern California: via bold watercolors, detailed sketches, and imaginative photography. Spender’s text includes in-depth accounts of conversations with Hockney throughout their journey and is equally captivating.
“The problem of going to a place and taking photographs is this: you are looking through a frame, seeing separate pictures framed up, peripheral vision stops. You don’t see everything if you take photographs. It’s a paradox.”
--David Hockney
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