David Hockney

Parade (Acrobat) is a vibrant colour screen print created as a poster for Erik Satie's ballet, Parade, performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 1981. Displayed on 111 billboards around the opera house, this striking artwork captivates viewers with its bold colors and dynamic movements. The Harlequin figure depicted in the print pays homage to the work of Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, who designed the original 1917 stage for the ballet as part of Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. Picasso collaborated with influential figures like Jean Cocteau and Guillaume Apollinaire while working on the ballet's costumes. Notably, Apollinaire was the original playwright of the play Les Mamelles de Tirésias, later adapted into an opera by composer Francis Poulenc, whose name also appears in Hockney's artwork, A Souvenir Of A Triple Bill For Andrea Velis (1982).

The Harlequin figure in Parade (Acrobat) is seen balancing on a bookcase, symbolizing the numerous other plays Hockney was involved in during the 1970s and '80s. His first venture as a costume and stage designer occurred in 1975 for an adaptation of Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress, showcased at the renowned Glyndebourne Festival. This experience with the play led to a retrospective exhibition at Oxford's Ashmolean Museum in 1981, which is also featured as a poster titled An Exhibit of Costumes (1981) in the collection of Hockney And The Stage artworks.