Celia Seated In An Office Chair

This print portrays the designer on a classic swivel chair. She appears to be making a concerted effort to sit up straight and appears ill at ease in this position. Her face and body are slightly turned away from us, her features partly concealed by her shaggy curls.

As with many other of Hockney’s portraits of Birtwell, her style takes centre stage. The artist pays close attention to her garments, representing cut, patterns and accessories beautifully, perhaps in a bid to convey the sitter’s own gift for fashion. The soft tones of brown, black and red of her figure are set against the stark contrast of the turquoise chair as well as the paleness of her skin and the white of her blouse.

Many of Hockney's prints of Birtwell are lithographs but here we see him returning to the intaglio technique to achieve a more sketchy style, proving his ability to work across the various mediums of printmaking, and his constant desire for experimentation in his work. Portraits of Celia can be found in many of Hockney’s later print series including Moving Focus and the Gemini G.E.L. 1979 Portfolio, and she continues to be his muse even today; fresh portraits of her appeared in his 2016 show at the Royal Academy, entitled 82 Portraits and 1 Still-Life.