Straw on the Left, Gold on the Right

Straw on the Left, Gold on the Right (1969) is a richly worked etching and aquatint by David Hockney from his Rumpelstilzchen series, created for Six Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm . Printed on handmade paper, the fine art print refers directly to the central episode of the fairy tale, in which the miller’s daughter is forced to spin worthless straw into gold. Hockney reduces this moment to its essentials, presenting two compact forms side by side to suggest both the impossible demand and its unsettling resolution. The dense, tangled straw contrasts with the lighter, more ordered gold, yet both are built from similar linear marks, emphasizing the story’s tension between imposed value and material reality. Issued in a limited edition of 100, the artwork is signed and numbered and was published by Petersburg Press, London. The original print is in excellent condition and stands as a strong example of Hockney’s early exploration of narrative imagery in his graphic work.