In Flowers of Dover (I), Gary Hume strips back the floral motif to its most essential and emblematic form, using flat planes of colour and minimal line to evoke beauty, memory, and emotional nuance. Rendered in radiant pink against a subdued olive-green background, the work is part of Hume’s ongoing exploration of nature’s symbolic weight, distilled through his signature glossy, graphic aesthetic.
Hume has long been known for his ability to merge figuration and abstraction, creating forms that hover between the real and the imagined. Here, the oversized blossoms appear simultaneously tender and monumental - seductive in their simplicity, yet rich with layered meaning. The sinuous line of the stem and the softly suggested contours of the petals invite close viewing, while the stark contrast of hues heightens the work’s emotional charge.
The Flowers of Dover series takes its name from the iconic white cliffs, but Hume offers no literal depiction. Instead, the title suggests a place loaded with history, passage, and borderlines, offering a quiet, poetic tension between fragility and resilience, between natural form and national metaphor.
With its serene palette and quietly powerful composition, Flowers of Dover (I) exemplifies Hume’s ability to transform the everyday into the iconic. It’s a contemplative and refined work, at once floral, formal, and deeply human.