A Bigger Splash (in and out)

Hockney's composition is based on a photograph of a swimming pool in a book and an earlier drawing by Hockney of Californian buildings.

It was created with meticulous care, simplifying but enlarging his earlier paintings entitled "A Little Splash" (1966) and "The Splash" (1966) (both are held in private collections; the latter was sold at Sotheby's for £2.6 million in 2006.
The canvas -- almost a perfect square -- is dominated by the strong vertical and horizontal lines of the trees, the building, and the edge of the pool; it is divided evenly into the sky, building and patio in the upper half, and the pool and diving board in the lower half.


The rectilinear composition is broken by the oblique thrust of the diving board. The calmness of the overall composition contrasts with the violent explosion of water caused by diver.

Hockney has expressed his pleasure at taking two weeks to paint a moment that lasted two seconds.


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