19TH MARCH 2021, SUNFLOWER WITH EXOTIC FLOWER, 2021

  • 19th March 2021, Sunflower with Exotic Flower 2021 David Hockney
    19th March 2021, Sunflower with Exotic Flower 2021
    iPad painting printed on paper
    89 x 63.5 cm, Edition of 50
    ©David Hockney
     
    In Sunflower with Exotic Flower, Hockney leans into contrast. A drooping sunflower, heavy with its own weight, shares the vase with sharp, upright stems and a striking green seed head. Electric blue buds introduce a jolt of unexpected colour, setting up a visual dialogue between familiar and unfamiliar blooms. The white vase and checked tablecloth ground the scene in an ordinary domestic setting, but the deep brown backdrop strips away distraction, making the flowers themselves the only focus. Each mark feels immediate, capturing the shifting forms before they settle into stillness.
     
    The iPad allows Hockney to chase these changes with speed. He draws light and shadow as they move, adjusting colour in seconds rather than hours. The digital strokes remain visible once printed, preserving the urgency of the moment. What could be a textbook still life becomes instead a record of time passing, a flower fading, another reaching, all of it alive.
    Enquire

  • "I believe that the very process of looking can make a thing beautiful."

     
    - David Hockney

    Hockney uses the iPad because it lets him work at the exact speed life moves. There is no waiting for paint to dry, no dragging a canvas outdoors, no excuses. He can adjust a colour instantly, erase a hesitation, sharpen a highlight in the moment that light actually changes. It keeps him honest. The iPad turns looking into a real-time process instead of a memory exercise.