David Hockney Red Celia (M.C.A.T 267) For Sale

Red Celia is signed lithograph, one of an edition of 82; it is one of Hockney’s most direct portraits of his longtime friend and subject, celebrated British fashion and print designer, Celia Birtwell. The famed relationship transcended that of artist and muse to a deep friendship and long running collaboration, in what have now become some of Hockney’s most famous works. (See also Celia With Green Hat, Image of Celia in Moving Focus series). Hockney said of Celia Birtwell; ‘Celia has a beautiful face, a very rare face, with lots of things in it which appeal to me…it shows her intuitive knowledge and kindness, which I think is the greatest virtue. To me she is such a special person.’

Red Celia, is one of the most powerful images of the Moving Focus series, perhaps due to the way the pose and execution of the print recall the emotionally driven portraits of Matisse. In the lithograph print, the subject is caught in repose, sitting poised with her hands clasped on her head, with messy hair marked out by fine lines and a jumper shaded out through washed out ink. The print is executed in bold reds and blueish tones, layered with rich texture, that convey the emotion of Hockney’s artistic language.

The print work has an immediacy of a sketch, as if catching Celia reposed in a split second yet the lithograph gives the image the weight of a painting: the striking colour makes this depiction of Birtwell more expressive than the naturalistic, naïve style of Hockney’s other captures of his friend and muse. Whilst her rounded face is shaded out to create a softness, the artist highlights one boldly defined left eye and mouth shape: there is no specific context or narrative to the print, the viewer is left to freely imprint their own ideas on what Celia’s thoughts and feelings at this moment could be.

Red Celia is one of Hockney’s most dramatic portraits, in which Birtwell’s style, artistic expression, creative flair meet with the artist’s to create a print that not only transforms Hockney’s visual language but defines a seminal era in British cultural history.