Portrait of Mother II, 1985, is a lithograph from David Hockney’s Moving Focus series that presents a quieter and more introspective portrayal of the artist’s mother. Seated against an orange chair decorated with leaf-like detailing, her head tilts downward as her gaze falls towards the floor, creating a contemplative atmosphere. Hockney uses layered outlines and overlapping facial features to subtly distort the portrait, allowing two versions of the face to emerge simultaneously. One appears slimmer with a pointed nose and pronounced cheekbones, while the other is softer and fuller, with rounded cheeks and a broader chin. Through this shifting construction, Hockney explores the passage of time, memory and changing identity.
The composition is rendered through loose linear marks and soft areas of colour, with bright blue clothing contrasted against the warm orange tones of the chair. Hockney’s use of simplified forms and visible drawing techniques gives the portrait an immediacy and emotional sensitivity that differs from the more spatially complex works within the Moving Focus series. Rather than focusing on architectural distortion, Portrait of Mother II centres on psychological presence and observation, reflecting Hockney’s continued interest in representing multiple ways of seeing within a single image. Printed as a lithograph on handmade paper, the work was released in an edition of 20.
