20TH FEBRUARY 2021, JUG WITH FLOWERS, 2021

  • David Hockney's 20th February 2021, Jug with Flowers, 2021
    20th February 2021, Jug with Flowers, 2021
    iPad painting printed on paper
    89 x 63.5 cm, Edition of 50
    ©David Hockney
     
     
    Jug with Flowers continues Hockney’s exploration of still life through the immediacy of the iPad, bringing attention to the fleeting shifts of colour and light that define a living arrangement. The checked tablecloth introduces movement and structure, while the deep brown background isolates the bouquet, pushing its varied forms into sharp focus. The digital marks remain energetic and unpolished, retaining the sensation of drawing directly from life rather than constructing a scene in the studio.
     
    Across this print, Hockney demonstrates how technology can refresh one of art’s oldest subjects. The jug becomes a play of reflection and texture, rendered with layered gestures that feel intuitive and quick. Once printed on paper, the work holds the clarity of the screen while gaining physical weight. This piece reflects Hockney’s broader ambition to challenge how we see, proving that a simple arrangement of flowers can become a record of active looking in real time.
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  • "I draw flowers every day and send them to my friends so they get fresh blooms every morning."

     
    - David Hockney
    In the context of his wider practice, still life acts as a laboratory. The visual experiments that later expand into landscapes, portraits and stage designs often begin here. When he embraced the iPad, it was still life that allowed him to push the medium quickly: immediate marks, shifting arrangements, the challenge of capturing something that will wilt or move if he slows down. For Hockney, these works are not small domestic studies. They are the foundation of his ongoing argument that looking is an active, urgent act and that every tool, digital or otherwise, should sharpen the way we pay attention to the world.