In 1986, David Hockney did something no printmaker had done before. Rather than working with a traditional print studio, he took an office colour photocopier and used it as both camera and printing press, building each image layer by layer, directly through the machine.

But Hockney wasn’t using ordinary copy paper. He fed fine artist’s paper (Arches Text Wove) through the copier, transforming an everyday office technology into an unexpected printmaking tool. The result is remarkable: prints with the richness, texture and presence of a lithograph, rather than the flat, utilitarian quality of an office copy. The Home-Made Prints are among the most inventive works of his career, and a direct forerunner of the iPad drawings that followed decades later.

Self-Portrait, July 1986 is one of the most sought-after images in the series. Because the copier could only print on small sheets, Hockney composed the portrait across two sheets of Arches paper, turning a technical limitation into an integral part of the work. Intimate and saturated with colour, it captures the artist in the act of looking and making.

David Hockney
Self-Portrait, July 1986, 1986
Home-Made Print executed on an office colour copier, on two sheets of Arches Text paper
55.8 × 21.5 cm (21⅞ × 8½ in), overall
Edition of 60, signed and dated in pencil, with the artist's blindstamp

A pivotal work from Hockney's experimental Home-Made Prints. It is one of the most sought-after images in the series, and impressions are held by the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery and LACMA.

Whether it's an iPad drawing, a Home-Made Print or a classic from the swimming pool years, our sourcing service can find it for you. We have been placing works by Hockney with collectors for over a decade. Through our network of private collectors and galleries, we can often find works before they reach the open market.

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