He Tore Himself To Pieces

He Tore Himself To Pieces (1969) is a finely detailed etching and aquatint by David Hockney from his celebrated Rumpelstilzchen portfolio, Six Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm . Printed on handmade paper, the fine art print unfolds across four sequential panels, narrating the climactic moment in which the enraged dwarf literally tears himself apart after the queen reveals his name. Hockney stages the scene almost like a storyboard: the first panels show the figure crouched and then violently springing upward; the final images fragment the body into separated limbs and a rounded torso. Rendered in delicate etched lines and soft aquatint shading, the print's composition balances dark humor with psychological intensity. The sparse setting heightens the absurd brutality of the tale, allowing gesture and movement to carry the narrative tension. Issued in a limited edition of 100, the artwork is hand-signed and numbered in pencil and was published by Petersburg Press, London. The fine art print stands as a powerful example of Hockney’s early engagement with literary storytelling and his masterful use of graphic sequence within printmaking.