Celia
Signed Print

Published in 1969, just a year before Celia Birtwell would become the model for perhaps Hockney’s most famous double portrait, Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy, Celia is a striking etching of the designer who remains a close friend of the artist. Unlike later lithograph portraits here Birtwell is portrayed in a clean line drawing, which belies the medium of etching. She wears a similar style of empire line dress as that of the painting except that this one is covered in a lively pattern, presumably of her own design. She appears to be looking slightly above the artist and refuses to meet our gaze, her expression distant, her cheeks a little gaunt in contrast with her full figure which suggests she may be pregnant. Her feet are shown in elegant ballet pumps and she sits on a wooden chair that is barely seen. Her features are instantly recognisable as those of An Image Of Celia from the much later Moving Focus series; here she is undoubtedly younger and yet a little more preoccupied. The work is beautifully simple and shows Hockney’s ability to transfer his drawings to the etching plate, as with the Brothers Grimm series of the same year in which complex scenes and characters are depicted with a simple line.