Selective Preparation of Canvas as an ‘Artistic Device’ in David Hockney’s Early Paintings (1964–1972)

In the mid-1960s and early 1970s, David Hockney opted for a particular application of primer in the ground layers of some of his paintings — that is, a partial or ‘selective’ type of preparation. By selectively preparing certain areas with one or more layers of (gesso) priming, Hockney introduced a slightly higher and white pictorial plane in selected areas while retaining the properties of raw canvas in others. In one of Hockney’s most discussed paintings, Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), for instance, selective preparation divided the surface and set the stage from the ground up. This paper examines the impact of this highly original and hybrid formula on perception by the viewer, focusing on how the eye registers the change in properties of the paint layer. It outlines Hockney’s investigation of the primed/unprimed opposition through the use of selective preparation, and the variety of effects it allowed him to achieve in one canvas. From its anecdotal use in 1960s road trip paintings to its more pronounced use in pool paintings in which Hockney used unprimed canvas to convey the ‘wetness’ of water, selective preparation was a device for him to compellingly increase contrasts and tension. Far from producing mere formal effects or serving solely as citations (of stain paintings for instance), the perceived technical oddity produces meaning. From the ground layers up, it deeply influences the perception, and thus the interpretation of the discussed paintings.