Details
DAVID HOCKNEY (1937-2026)
Celia seated in an office chair
etching and aquatint in colours, 1974, on BFK Rives wove paper, signed and dated in pencil, numbered 7/60 (there were also 16 artist's proofs), published by Petersburg Press, London, 1981
Plate 685 x 545 mm.
Sheet 905 x 750 mm.
Provenance
Christie's, London, 28-29 November 1995, lot 818.
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner.
Literature
Not in Scottish Arts Council; Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo 160
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Lot Essay

This delicate and tender portrait of Celia Birtwell, the celebrated textile designer and lifelong confidant of David Hockney, was made on a visit to Malibu during the unravelling of her marriage to Ossie Clarke. Birtwell’s positioning on the office chair, straight-backed but perched awkwardly on its edge, seems to encapsulate the sense of emotional fragility and uncertainty. Executed in a soft palette of pink, blue, black and brown, Hockney renders his friend with exquisite naturalism.

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