10 Facts About Hockney’s Celia Birtwell

Hockney’s early portraits of Celia tended to be etchings, but by the mid-1970s his prints began to test colour, so that by the late 1970s and 1980s his lithography displayed more painterly gestures. Despite these developing techniques, Celia remains the fixed point against which change is measured. By keeping the sitter constant, Hockney showcases how the process can alter mood, clarity and intimacy of a portrait.

Time together in Malibu focused Hockney’s interest in depicting Celia’s inner mood rather than the setting or props. Celia Smoking is quiet and concentrated: the cigarette is barely portrayed, while the drawing pays close attention to her expression and the texture of her hair. The restrained lithograph is a testament to Hockney and Birtwell’s friendship, with even this modest portrait conveying intimacy between artist and sitter.

Hockney pays homage to earlier masters through the seated poses, toilette scenes and off-guard viewpoints. From Matisse he borrows the use of bright, flat colours and simplified shapes; from Degas, the sense of catching a subject in an unguarded, everyday moment; and from Lautrec, the immediacy and liveliness found in scenes of modern life. Celia’s presence brings these art-historical ideas into the contemporary world, keeping the portraits personal rather than purely academic.

Hockney’s Photo Collages patch together many small views to suggest how we actually look at someone over time. In Celia Making Tea (1982), the action is captured, which challenges the single frozen viewpoint of traditional portraiture and demonstrates that photography can add depth and duration to a portrait.

Celia features prominently in Hockney’s 1979 Gemini G.E.L. Portfolio, showing how the artist relied on repeated sittings, proofing and revision. Her reliability as a collaborator let him test papers, inks and scale with confidence. The result explains why many of Hockney’s most assured prints emerge through portraits of Celia.

An Image Of Celia is a complex lithograph that layers frontal and profile views of her face. Saturated reds and blues pull the head forward against a blank background, while simplified features appear as surreal fragments. The effect is a portrait assembled from many different moments of looking.

From the Royal Academy’s 82 Portraits and 1 Still-Life (2016) to the National Portrait Gallery’s drawing surveys, Celia is a headline presence. Her recurring inclusion reflects not only her status as his most frequent sitter, but also the endurance of their friendship over six decades. Speaking of her experience posing, Birtwell has said, “When we’re together, we just laugh and laugh,” she admitted in an interview, while Hockney has described her as “such a special person... a beautiful face, with lots of things in it that appeal to me.” Their portraits together carry that ease and affection.

Hockney and Birtwell first met in the late 1960s, when both were rising stars in their fields - he in art, she in textile design - and their friendship has long outlasted the era’s glamour. “He’s a real intellectual, David,” Birtwell has said, “and that he chose me is incredibly flattering.” Hockney echoes the sentiment: “Celia is one of the few girls I know really well. I’ve drawn her so many times and knowing her makes it always slightly different.”