Celia (La Bergère) (from Eight Lithographs to Benefit the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, Inc. Portfolio) (Gemini 955) by David Hockney

Provenance:
Arij Gasiunasen Fine Arts, Palm Beach
Private Collection, Toronto

Literature:
Gemini G.E.L., "A Catalogue Raisonné, 1966-2005", Washington, 2018, catalogue no. 23.78, n.p. [online publication]
Sarah Howgate and Barbara Stern Shapiro, "David Hockney Portraits", London, 2006, page 222

“Celia has a beautiful face, a very rare face with lots of things in it which appeal to me. It shows aspects of her, like her intuitive knowledge and her kindness, which I think is the greatest virtue. To me she’s such a special person.”

David Hockney and the fashion and textile designer Celia Birtwell met through a mutual friend, Mo McDermott, in the mid-1960s. They became lifelong friends, and over the course of six decades, she often modelled for the English artist. Numerous portraits in various poses, therefore, appear throughout Hockney’s oeuvre, featuring her as his muse.

In "Celia (La Bergère)", wearing a black skirt, matching fedora and stylish shirt, Hockney’s shepherdess leans nonchalantly on her left arm, head turned in profile, gazing off into the distance.