A Bigger Splash
- Artist: David Hockney
- Date: 1967
- Medium: Acrylic paint on canvas
- Dimensions: support: 2425 x 2439 x 30 mm
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
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About this artwork
This is the “A Bigger Splash” by David Hockney, painted in 1967 while he was teaching at the University of California, Berkeley. The canvas shows a bright, turquoise pool with a yellow diving board jutting out of the corner. Below it a splash is rendered in fine white strokes, almost frozen in mid‑air. Hockney has explained that he wanted to capture a moment that lasts only a couple of seconds, but he spent two weeks painting it, turning an instantaneous splash into a deliberate, almost sculptural gesture.
The work is a key example of Hockney’s California period, a time when he moved to Los Angeles in 1964 and became obsessed with the city’s endless sunshine and ubiquitous swimming pools. He used acrylics for their quick drying time and bright hues, which help convey the stark, sun‑lit light of the West Coast.
Notice how the surrounding architecture is pared down, a flat building with large glass windows and a simple folding chair, keeping the viewer’s focus on the water. The stark contrast between the blue of the pool and the orange of the sky underlines the painting’s sense of stillness amid motion.
See it in person
A Bigger Splash is in the collection of Tate Britain on Millbank, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
