David Hockney 19th March 2021, Sunflower with Exotic Flower For Sale

Sunflower with Exotic Flower, 2021, from David Hockney’s 20 Flowers and Some Bigger Pictures series is a still life artwork he created as an Ipad painting printed on paper. Created as an extension of his 2020 series, The Arrival of Spring: Normandy which marked the vibrant nature around his home as the seasons changed, these still life flowers continue to reflect on themes of rebirth, renewal, memory and loss.

Hockney created a series of similar flower portraits but continues to hold the viewers gaze with shifting perspective, colour, line and form. A white ceramic curve shaped vase sits on the same red gingham tablecloth as the previous artwork (Roses in a Blue Vase) with the same shadow looming on the tableside; yet this vase contains a drooping sunflower and another strange looking ‘exotic flower’ of the title.

The ‘exotic flower’ looks like it has seeds inside the flower whilst thinly stalked buds lie on the other side of the vase: the flowers are created in multiple shades of blue, yellow and green.

Sunflower with Exotic Flower, 2021 resembles a traditional still life artwork but created in the ‘unfinished’ style of the digital Ipad app is a modern, quirky rendition on the traditional genre.