David Hockney
(1985)

Moving Focus, Hockney’s series of prints made with master printer Ken Tyler from 1984-1987, reflect the enduring influence of cubism on the artist, in particularly the work of Picasso, as well as an enthusiasm for Chinese scroll painting, with which Hockney had become fascinated.
Hockney had discovered the Hotel Romano Angeles in the small town of Acatlán, Hidalgo Province, by accident after his car had broken down on a trip from Mexico City to Oaxaca. Arranged around a courtyard with tropical plants and a well at its centre, it’s rustic charm and colour had immediately appealed to the artist. On his return to Los Angeles Hockney contacted Ken Tyler to enlist his help. Tyler proposed a new lithographic method which he had recently developed, the mylar technique. Using prepared sheets of the semi-transparent plastic the technique allowed Hockney to overlay colour drawings, simulating the colour separation necessary for colour lithography, and to visualise the final effect, something which had not hitherto been possible. This was liberating for a colourist like Hockney, and the Hotel Acatlán prints are some of the most vibrant in his graphic oeuvre. 

https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6306749

Hotel Acatlán: First Day, from Moving Focus
1985
Lithograph in colors, on two sheets of TGL handmade paper
73 x 188.6 cm
Private collection (Sold by Christie’s on 10 March 2021)
https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6306749