You see, that swimming pool hockney, that’s a big deal. I heard it from my neighbor, whose grandson is a college boy, always talking ’bout fancy things. This Hockney, he’s some big shot artist, paints pictures and such. And one of his pictures, it’s got a swimming pool in it. Now, we ain’t got no swimming pools ’round here, just the old creek down yonder, but this one, it’s all blue and shiny, like a piece of the sky fell down to earth.
This fella Hockney, he went to California, that place where movie stars live. And he saw all them fancy swimming pools, and it just got stuck in his head. So he started painting them, I reckon. One after another, swimming pool hockney, that’s all the city folks talk about. They say it’s pretty, them colors and shapes. I don’t know much about shapes, but I like a good blue color, reminds me of a summer sky after a good rain.
- That Hockney, he was born a long time ago, in 1937.
- He’s from England, that place across the big ocean.
- He paints lots of things, but the swimming pools, them’s the ones everyone talks about.
- The swimming pool hockney, it’s a big painting.
I saw a picture of one of them paintings once. This one, it had a fella swimming under the water, all stretched out like he’s flying. And another fella, standing at the edge, just looking down. Like he’s thinking real hard about something. Maybe he lost a quarter in the water, who knows. These young folks today, they do have money to throw away. That picture, it’s called “Portrait of an Artist” or something like that. Sounds mighty fancy to me. Just a swimming pool hockney, but they make it sound like it’s the queen’s jewels.
This Hockney fella, he sure did like them swimming pools. He painted a whole bunch of ’em. One was called “The Splash,” I think. Just a big splash of water, like someone jumped in. Now that, I understand. We used to jump in the creek all the time, making the biggest splash we could. Maybe that’s what he was thinking of, this Hockney. Just a good old-fashioned splash.
They say these paintings, these swimming pool hockney, they’re worth a lot of money. More money than I’ve ever seen in my whole life. Millions, they say! Can you believe that? For a picture of a swimming pool! I told my neighbor, I said, “You could buy a whole farm for that kind of money!” But she just shook her head and said it’s art, and art is different.
Well, I guess it is. I don’t understand it, but it’s something. This Hockney, he saw something in them swimming pools that nobody else saw. Maybe it was the way the light shines on the water, all sparkly and bright. Or maybe it was just the idea of it, a place to cool off on a hot day. Whatever it was, he sure did like it. And he made a whole lot of money from it, too.
- One of them swimming pool hockney paintings sold for 90 million dollars!
- That’s more money than anyone ’round here has ever seen.
- That’s what the rich folks spend money on.
- But they sure are pretty, I guess.
This Hockney fella, he painted one picture of his own house, I heard. Had a swimming pool in it, of course. And a terrace, whatever that is. Must be nice, living in a place like that. I wouldn’t know what to do with a swimming pool, though. I’d probably just sit on the edge and dangle my feet in it. That painting is just a swimming pool hockney, again.
I guess that’s all I know about that swimming pool hockney. It’s just a picture, but it’s a big deal to some folks. And this Hockney, he’s a big deal, too. I don’t understand it all, but it’s interesting, I reckon. Like looking at a picture of a place you’ve never been. It makes you wonder what it’s like, to swim in a pool like that, under that California sun.
They say this Hockney fell in love with them swimming pools, when he first saw ’em. Love, now that’s something I understand. Maybe it’s like when I first saw my husband, bless his soul. It just hits you, right in the heart. And you know, that’s it. Maybe that’s what happened to this Hockney and his swimming pools. He just fell in love. That swimming pool hockney, maybe there is more to it than just a pool.
I still don’t get why they’re worth so much money, though. But I guess that’s just the way the world is. Some things are worth a lot, and some things ain’t. But they can all be beautiful, in their own way. Even a simple, old swimming pool. Even the swimming pool hockney, even he can’t paint the same two times, I guess.
