28TH FEBRUARY 2021, ROSES IN A BLUE VASE, 2021

  • 28th February 2021, Roses in a Blue Vase, 2021, David Hockney
    28th February 2021, Roses in a Blue Vase, 2021,
    iPad painting printed on paper
    89 x 63.5 cm, Edition of 50
    ©David Hockney

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    In Roses in a Blue Vase, Hockney strips the still life down to its essentials. Three roses rise sharply from a tall blue vessel, their bold pink shapes set against a deep background that offers no distraction. The composition feels deliberately spare, which heightens the directness of his marks. Every stroke looks fast and responsive, the stems slightly uneven as though they have just been adjusted. The red check of the tablecloth adds rhythm beneath the vase, grounding the scene in a familiar domestic setting while still keeping focus firmly on the flowers.

     

    This work shows how Hockney uses the iPad to chase immediacy rather than perfection. He is responding to a live moment, not arranging a picture to be slowly polished. The digital medium allows speed, revision and clarity, capturing the life of the roses while they are still upright and vivid. Once printed on paper, the sketch-like energy remains visible, turning a simple vase of flowers into a record of seeing something before it changes.

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  • "I draw flowers every day and send them to my friends so they get fresh blooms every morning." 

     

    - David Hockney

    Hockney’s iPad works are built on the idea that looking should move as quickly as life does. The tablet gives him the freedom to draw with light and colour in real time, adjusting marks instantly as shadows shift or a flower bends. For him, the medium is not a gimmick. It is a tool that keeps observation active and urgent. By printing these digital drawings at scale, he restores physical presence to an image made on a screen, proving that technology can sharpen our attention to the everyday rather than dull it.