Name: Flowers Made Of Paper And Black Ink
Brand: David Hockney
Rating: 5 (236 reviews)

Track auction value trend

The value of David Hockney's Flowers Made Of Paper And Black Ink (signed) is estimated to be worth between £20,000 and £29,000. This lithograph print, created in 1971, has shown consistent value growth, with an average annual growth rate of 6%. This is a rare artwork, having been sold 5 times at auction since its initial sale on 21st October 2010. In the past 12 months, the hammer price has ranged from £13,000 in January 2021 to £17,334 in April 2021. The average return to the seller over the past five years has been £12,582. The edition size of this artwork is limited to 50.

Meaning & Analysis

This striking still life appears to be a monochrome version of Coloured Flowers Made of Paper and Ink, in which an elegant glass vase holds six flowers angled away from each other in a feeling of discord that seems to refuse the harmony of a bouquet. Now rendered in black and white the composition becomes much harsher, and perhaps more gothic, the grid of the background becoming almost overbearing, the pencils in the foreground losing their childlike charm and becoming dark silhouettes. The white space of the table becomes much needed as the black ink crowds the composition. Here we see Hockney playing with the medium of lithography to achieve two very striking effects and to challenge our preconceptions of the still life with flowers as a genre. Gone is the soft beauty of the natural world and instead we are faced with harsh graphic detail that recalls some of the artist’s Illustrations For Six Fairy Tales From The Brothers Grimm or the darkness of the prints in the A Rake’s Progress series. 50 years after this print was made Hockney continues to produce studies of flowers, captivated as he is by their ephemeral beauty and their elegance. Across painting, printmaking and even digital drawing, he continues to bring these delicate arrangements to life.