David Hockney|Celia Etchings (Petersburg Press, 1974–76)

The six prints return to one of Hockney's most familiar subjects and show him working each image two ways. Celia Birtwell was married to the fashion designer Ossie Clark, and Hockney was best man at their wedding in 1969. He made his first portraits of her that year, and she went on to sit for him more than eighty times over five decades. "I've drawn her so many times and knowing her makes it always slightly different," Hockney said of her.

Three plates, two states

Two of the plates are dated 1974: 'Celia In A Wicker Chair' and 'Celia Seated In An Office Chair'. The third, 'Celia Observing', followed in 1976. All three are large, with images of about 68 x 54 cm on sheets of about 90 x 75 cm. Hockney combined etched line with aquatint, which prints areas of tone. He also used soft-ground etching for both states of 'Celia Seated In An Office Chair' and for 'Celia In A Wicker Chair - Black State'. Every image was printed in colour and again in black, as a black state. The six were editioned and numbered separately, so what joins them is the sitter, the scale of the plates and that pairing of colour and black.

Before and after

Hockney had already drawn Birtwell in lithography at Gemini in Los Angeles, as in 'Celia Smoking' of 1973. Later portraits of her took him back to lithography and to Gemini: the 'Celia and Ann Lithographs (Gemini G.E.L. 1979–81)' include 'Celia Amused' of 1979.

At auction

An artist's proof of 'Celia In A Wicker Chair' sold for £32,760 including fees at Phillips London in September 2022. Numbered impressions of the colour editions sold for less. 'Celia In A Wicker Chair' made £11,340 at Phillips London in January 2023. 'Celia Seated In An Office Chair' made $11,430 at Phillips New York in April 2023 and £10,965 at Phillips London in September 2026. All three figures include fees. Of the black states, 'Celia Seated In An Office Chair - Black State' sold for $15,300 including fees at Bonhams New York in May 2021.