Celia With Green Hat
Signed Print

This portrait of Celia Birtwell, Hockney’s longtime friend and muse, depicts the British fashion designer in a green hat. Unlike the softer and more understated portraits of Celia in series such as Gemini 1979, this work exaggerates her features and skin tone, turning her hair brassy and flushing her complexion. Her eyes are a brilliant green and they stare out at us knowingly, their whites picked out by the dark lines of her lashes. Her hands are curled up and placed under her chin as if she is resting on them or about to pull a punch. Her soft blue jumper adds a wash of calm to the image which, while striking, is garish in its bold colours and intense focus. One of five portraits of Celia in the series entitled Moving Focus, the work is also a contrast to the more Cubist styles of prints such as An Image of Celia where the model is shown sat in a chair, her face and body reflected in multiple perspectives. Here the focus is fixed on her and with the closely cropped composition we feel as close to her as the artist must have been.