David Hockney, The Tate Gallery, Drawings And Prints
David Hockney, The Tate Gallery, Drawings And Prints
Unsigned Print
David Hockney
Price data unavailable
AAGR (5 years) This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.
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Medium: Lithograph
Year: 1980
Size: H 76cm x W 51cm
Signed: No
Format: Unsigned Print
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Auction Results
| Auction Date | Auction House | Artwork | Hammer Price | Return to Seller | Buyer Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2003 | Bonhams Bury St Edmunds - United Kingdom | David Hockney, The Tate Gallery, Drawings And Prints - Unsigned Print |
Meaning & Analysis
Unlike many of the other portraits of Celia Birtwell in David Hockney’s oeuvre, this work can be more accurately described as a poster. As well as a likeness of the British designer and muse, the work includes text publicising Hockney's 1980 show at the Tate gallery. The text is almost obscured, however, by a mass of lines that serve as a stand-in for an ornate frame, providing movement and grandeur to the composition. Birtwell herself sits at the centre of the image, wearing a structured black jacket, her right hand raised as if frozen in gesture, her eyes turned away from the artist’s gaze. This would not be the last exhibition to feature Birtwell however; since the pair met in the 60s the designer has appeared in hundreds of works by David Hockney and was also included in the 2016 show at the Royal Academy entitled 82 Portraits and 1 Still-Life. Speaking of her experience of sitting for Hockney for the first time, Birtwell has said, “It was so tranquil but I was terrified of doing something wrong.” Meanwhile Hockney describes his close friend as having ‘A beautiful face, a very rare face with lots of things in it which appeal to me.”
