David Hockney captures the fleeting nature of a splash in this vibrant painting.  The piece represents one of Hockney's signature painting subjects: water. Hockney, enamored by the the perpetual motion of water, centers a splash in the center of an eerily empty California home scene. Hockney studied the movement, transparency, and depiction of water almost obsessively.

As an artist, Hockney relished the preservation of a single moment, like a splash. Hockney once noted the satisfaction he found in spending weeks to preserve a split-second event. His observation of water's qualities played into Hockney's affinity for representation. Hockney's interest in the two-dimensional portray of three dimensions plays out in the water splashing up from the pool's surface.

In this piece, a splash emerges from the surface of the swimming pool, but the source of it cannot be seen. This creates a sense of mystery and an overall eerie tone as this residential scene appears inhabited yet empty. The person (or persons) that must be beneath the surface of the water add an element of intrigue that extends beyond the canvas.

The splash depicts a temporary disruption in the calm evoked by the rest of the painting. Its dynamic shape contrasts with the rigid lines and crisp colors the Hockney employs to depict the house. This California home's stark pool deck illustrates Hockney's view of America's wide open spaces in comparison to his life in London. As a gay man in an English society hostile to the notion of homosexuality, Hockney found solace in the more liberated culture of America in the 1960s.