Details

Artist: David Hockney (British, b. 1937) (1937 - )
Title: Amaryllis in Vase, from Moving Focus, 1984
Series: Moving Focus, 1984
Medium: Lithograph in colors on TGL handmade paper.
Image Size: 50 x 36 in (127 x 91.4 cm)
Sheet Size: 50 x 36 in (127 x 91.4 cm)
Edition: Numbered from the edition of 80 in pencil in the lower left.
Signature: This work is hand signed by David Hockney (Bradford 1937-) in pencil in the lower right.
Item # W-101998

Historical Description

David Hockney, Amaryllis in Vase, from Moving Focus, 1984, is one of the most vibrant and immediately recognizable still lifes from David Hockney’s landmark Moving Focus series, created during one of the most inventive periods of the artist’s career. Centered on a brilliant arrangement of red flowers, the work transforms a traditional floral subject into an energetic exploration of color, pattern, perspective, and visual perception.

By the early 1980s, Hockney had become increasingly dissatisfied with the fixed viewpoint of traditional Renaissance perspective. Influenced by Cubism, Chinese scroll painting, and his photographic “joiners,” he developed compositions in which several angles and moments of observation could coexist within one image. The Moving Focus series became one of the clearest expressions of these ideas, exploring how the eye naturally shifts between objects and viewpoints rather than remaining in one fixed position.

In Amaryllis in Vase, five vivid red flowers rise from a sculptural blue vase placed upon a dark table. The arrangement is set against a richly patterned pink and yellow background, creating a bold contrast between the flowers, vessel, and surrounding interior. Hockney depicts the table using reverse perspective, placing its shorter edge nearer to the viewer and allowing the surface to widen toward the back of the composition. This subtle spatial reversal gives the still life a dynamic quality, making the flowers appear to project directly into the viewer’s space. The result is unmistakably Hockney: colorful, decorative, intelligent, and visually engaging.

Works from Hockney’s 1980s period are highly valued for combining familiar subjects with major conceptual and technical experimentation. Within the Moving Focus series, Amaryllis in Vase is particularly desirable for its bold palette, large scale, recognizable floral imagery, and inventive use of reverse perspective. With a standard edition of only 80, signed impressions remain limited and increasingly difficult to acquire.

Produced in collaboration with the legendary master printers at Tyler Graphics, Amaryllis in Vase is a color lithograph printed on luxurious TGL handmade paper. Executed in 1984 and published by Tyler Graphics Ltd. in 1985, each standard-edition impression was signed, dated, and individually numbered in pencil and bears the publisher’s blindstamp. The image measures approximately 46 by 32½ inches, with a full sheet measuring approximately 50 by 36¼ inches. The rich color, varied mark-making, and monumental scale give the work a presence that approaches that of an original painting.

Museum Collections:

The significance of Amaryllis in Vase is reflected by its inclusion in the permanent collections of several internationally recognized museums, including:

Tate, London

Walker Art Center, Minneapolis

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Its presence in these prestigious institutions underscores the importance of both the Moving Focus series and Hockney’s innovative contributions to late twentieth-century still life and printmaking.

This example, numbered from the limited edition of only 80 and hand signed and dated by David Hockney, represents an outstanding opportunity to acquire one of the artist’s most colorful and recognizable print editions. An additional 16 artist’s proofs were produced outside the standard edition. Combining rarity, historical significance, exceptional craftsmanship, and one of Hockney’s most visually memorable floral compositions, Amaryllis in Vase is an important work for serious collectors of modern and contemporary art.

David Hockney’s Moving Focus series, created between 1984 and 1986, is one of the most ambitious print projects of his career. Moving beyond traditional fixed perspective, Hockney used shifting viewpoints, fragmented forms, expressive drawing, and vivid color to explore how people experience subjects over time. Featuring portraits, interiors, still lifes, chairs, and views of the Hotel Romano Angeles in Mexico, the series was produced with Kenneth Tyler using innovative combinations of lithography, etching, screenprinting, collage, and handmade papers. Together, the works represent a major achievement in modern printmaking and a powerful exploration of movement, perspective, and memory.

The works in David Hockney’s Moving Focus Series (1984–1986) include: Conversation in the Studio, Tyler Dinning Room, Pembroke Studio Interior, Pembroke Studio with Blue Chairs and Lamp, Two Pembroke Studio Chairs, The Perspective Lesson, Amaryllis in Vase, Red Celia, Celia in Green Hat, Hotel Acatlan: First Day, Hotel Acatlan: Second Day, Hotel Acatlan: Two Weeks Later, Views of Hotel Well I, Views of Hotel Well II, Views of Hotel Well III, Walking Past Two Chairs, An Image of Gregory, An Image of Celia, An Image of Celia, State I, An Image of Celia, State II, An Image of Celia Study, Portrait of Mother I, Portrait of Mother II, Portrait of Mother III, An Image of Ken, White Porcelain, A Picture of Two Chairs, Number One Chair.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:

David Hockney Amaryllis in Vase, from Moving Focus, 1984 is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and related texts. Copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the sale of the work.

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, catalogue number 266.
Tyler Graphics, catalogue number 272.

  1. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this artwork.

David Hockney (British, b. 1937)

Amaryllis in Vase, from Moving Focus, 1984

Lithograph in colors on TGL handmade paper.
from the edition of 80 in pencil in the lower left.
hand signed by David Hockney (Bradford 1937-) in pencil in the lower right.
 
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