Potted Daffodils
Signed Print

As with Black Tulips, this is a 1980 lithograph that shows flowers in soil rather than in a vase, as is typical for most of Hockney’s still lifes. Transformed into black ink the daffodils lose their charm as signifiers of spring and become something otherworldly, their stems and flowers appearing like dark tentacles emerging from the pot. With just three blooms in view the flowers are overshadowed by these appendages which reach out to almost touch the sides of the composition. Another element of gothic uncanniness is added by the tablecloth which feels almost ghostly in its apparition, causing the pot to appear like it is floating, rather than anchored to the ground. While a little unsettling the work is undoubtedly beautiful and remarkable for its exquisite visual effects, achieved in lithography. The work could easily have been create with pen and ink or even pencil but here Hockney succeeds in translating a drawing perfectly onto the lithographic stone revealing his mastery of the medium which he began using in the early ’70s. Flowers – along with the still life – are an enduring subject for Hockney and he appears to return to their natural beauty again and again.