Henry Seated With Tulips
Signed Print

One of four portraits of Henry Geldzahler in the 1976 Friends portfolio, Henry Seated with Tulips is a beautiful fusion of the portrait and still life genre. Here Hockney has chosen to depict his friend in a softer, more tonal style compared to works such as Henry Geldzahler With Hat and Henry Reading the Newspaper. In this way the work is closer in style and setting to Henry At The Table. Once again Hockney has decided to include the details of a chair as well as an exuberant vase of flowers which are echoed in Geldzahler’s suit jacket. The work is unusual in the series for also including a self portrait. At the right of the composition we can see what must be a mirror, containing the reflection of Hockney’s own figure. In this way he appears to be referencing old masters such as Velázquez – who included his self portrait in a mirror in his painting Las Meninas – and creating a trompe l’oeil effect which causes the viewer to question the relationship between artifice and reality, artist and sitter. As well as art historical references the work is also suffused in a quiet intimacy that demonstrates the close bond between Hockney and Geldzahler who would remain the artist’s close friend until his death in the 90s.