Celia Amused
Signed Print

One of seven portraits of Celia Birtwell in the Gemini 1979 portfolio by David Hockney, Celia Amused shows the textile designer standing by a table and plant. Dressed in a mannish suit which is contrasted with her high heels, she has her hands in her pockets and looks directly at the artist and viewer. Her smiling features are rendered in loose inky brushstrokes that emphasise the softness of her face and the curls of her hair. Unlike Celia Musing which is similar in composition, here Birtwell seems more relaxed, her pose less swaggering and more intimate, as if caught off guard or during a break from sitting for an official portrait. The table to her right is delicately ornamental and the plant that sits on it is reduced to a handful of lines making it hard to tell if it is some kind of lily or an orchid. As we can see from the number of portraits in this series alone, Birtwell was a favourite sitter of Hockney’s and continues to be his muse today. Speaking of his love for the designer as both friend and subject Hockney has said, “Celia has a beautiful face, a very rare face with lots of things in it which appeal to me. It shows aspects of her, like her intuitive knowledge and her kindness, which I think is the greatest virtue. To me she’s such a special person.”