White Porcelain
Signed Print

A still life of flowers, White Porcelain is a classic study by Hockney. Depicted in crayon-like marks the purple irises, or perhaps orchids, on the left present a striking contrast to the red and yellow tulips on the right. The flowers emerge from squat round pots, presumably made of the porcelain of the title, and represent the only burst of colour in the otherwise monochrome composition. While the table or counter they sit on appears slightly tilted, the perspective is not as exaggerated as many of the other prints in the Moving Focus series. Dating to the period between 1984 and 1986, the portfolio shows hockney experimenting with multiple viewpoints in his prints, drawing on Cubist influences to subvert traditional representations of interiors and still lifes. Here we see him experimenting more perhaps with the background than the main subject of the work, which is made up of sweeping black marks and short dashes which obscure the detail of the scene’s setting. The work is dominated by gestural marks giving the print the feeling of a drawing, filled with spontaneity and intuition. In White Porcelain we clearly see Hockney’s ability to work naturally within a range of mediums – here he uses the lithographic stone as if it were just another page in his sketchbook.