Big Celia Print #2
Signed Print

Similarly to Celia Musing from the Gemini G.E.L 1979 portfolio, Big Celia Print #2 shows Hockney’s close friend and muse Celia Birtwell depicted in an inky black style with thick brush marks that offer a stark contrast to some of the more subtle tones of the 1976 portfolio, also done in collaboration with Gemini. However this work is different in that it has been ‘blown up’ to a larger scale, measuring 133cm x 146cm so that Birtwell, shown reclining on some cushions, towers over the viewer. She is dressed in a skirt and stripy top and her features are easily recognisable though economically drawn. In this the work recalls Matisse’s portraits of women in which just a few lines are enough to denote the eyes, lips and nose. The artist is looking down on his model from above, and she seems unaware of his gaze as she looks to the left. Speaking of his love for the designer as both friend and subject Hockney has said, “Celia has a beautiful face, a very rare face with lots of things in it which appeal to me. It shows aspects of her, like her intuitive knowledge and her kindness, which I think is the greatest virtue. To me she’s such a special person.”