David Hockney, Red Celia, from Moving Focus, 1984, is one of the most direct and visually powerful portraits from David Hockney’s landmark Moving Focus series, created during one of the most innovative periods of the artist’s career. The work depicts British textile designer Celia Birtwell, Hockney’s longtime friend and one of his most important recurring subjects. Through sweeping marks and a composition dominated entirely by shades of red, Hockney transforms an intimate portrait into an expressive investigation of personality, observation, and memory.

By the early 1980s, Hockney had become increasingly dissatisfied with the fixed viewpoint of traditional Renaissance perspective. Influenced by Cubism, his photographic “joiners,” and his continued exploration of how the eye observes a subject over time, he developed images in which several moments of attention could coexist. The Moving Focus series brings portraits, interiors, furniture, still lifes, and architectural spaces together through a shared investigation of reverse and multipoint perspective.

Rather than portraying Celia through carefully controlled detail, Red Celia captures her through loose, energetic strokes and overlapping passages of deep crimson, scarlet, and pale red. She rests with one arm raised behind her head, while the twisting lines of her hair, clothing, face, and surrounding chair merge into a single flowing composition. Her focused expression remains the center of the image despite the freedom of Hockney’s mark-making. The portrait is both intimate and monumental, balancing recognizable likeness with expressive movement. The Smithsonian describes it as one of the most direct and powerful works in the series and notes that its execution recalls Matisse as much as Picasso.

Works from Hockney’s 1980s period are highly valued for combining personal subjects with major conceptual and technical experimentation. Within the Moving Focus series, Red Celia is especially distinctive for its concentrated palette, bold execution, and close connection to one of Hockney’s most enduring muses. With a standard edition of only 82, signed impressions remain limited, while Celia’s importance throughout Hockney’s portraiture adds to the work’s historical significance.

Produced in collaboration with the legendary master printers at Tyler Graphics, Red Celia is a lithograph printed in tones of red on handmade TGL paper. Executed in 1984 and published by Tyler Graphics Ltd. in 1985, each standard-edition impression was signed and dated in pencil, individually numbered, and marked with the publisher’s blindstamp. The full sheet measures approximately 30 by 21½ inches. The standard edition consisted of 82 impressions, accompanied by 18 artist’s proofs.

Museum Collections:

The significance of Red Celia is reflected by its inclusion in the permanent collections of internationally recognized museums, including:

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo

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

This example, numbered from the limited edition of only 82 and hand signed and dated by David Hockney, represents an outstanding opportunity to acquire one of the artist’s most recognizable and emotionally direct print editions. An additional 18 artist’s proofs were produced outside the standard edition. Combining rarity, historical significance, expressive power, and its connection to one of Hockney’s most important subjects, Red Celia 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 Red Celia, 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 267.
Tyler Graphics, catalogue number 273.

1. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this artwork.