David Hockney, A Bigger Splash (Detail), 1967, acrylic on canvas, Tate Gallery, London, Photo by Ian Burt via Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License.
Memorial Day weekend is upon us and many Americans will gather poolside to enjoy a picnic while celebrating the memory of American soldiers.
No one has captured the appeal of the American poolside setting better than British Pop artist, David Hockney. The cloudless sky and clear pool are painted with pure, flat, and bright colors. The modern house has crisp, clean lines. It is a vision of an ideal modern California home.
Typically, the Pop artist has included some humor and irony. Hockney painted a splash frozen in time unlike the way we experience it in the real world. The disruption of the idyll is at once instant and timeless.
