The Sixties are often seen as a time when Britain emerged from the greyness of the postwar years into a period of optimism, youthfulness and colour. Few works exemplify this perception better than Hockney’s depictions of Californian swimming pools. Even in the late 1960s, these still evoked a glamorous and exotic life of sun, wealth and leisure.Frequently, Hockney populates these scenes with male figures but here only the splash suggests a human presence.