David Hockney
(b.1937)
''Celia 8365 Melrose Ave, Hollywood," 1973
Lithograph on cream wove paper, watermark Arches
Edition: 9/46 (there were also 11 artist's proofs)
Signed, titled, dated, and numbered in red pencil along the lower margin edge; Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles, CA, pub., with their blindstamps at the lower right margin corner on the recto, and their black ink stamp and pencil work number in the same area on the verso
Sheet: 47.5" H x 31.5" W
Provenance: The Estate of Oscar and Barbara Leidenfrost

Other Notes: Proceeds to benefit non-profit organizations and educational institutions.

This lot is accompanied by a printed information sheet from the website of Tanya Baxter Contemporary Gallery (London, Hong Kong, Longford, Heathrow). It was found in the Leidenfrost files and may or may not relate to the exact impression of this Hockney lithograph offered here.

The textile and fashion designer Celia Birtwell has been the subject of a number of works by David Hockney, the earliest dating to 1968. A close friend of the artist, Birtwell regularly traveled from the United Kingdom to Los Angeles to visit Hockney who had a tradition of creating a portrait of her upon each arrival.

Created at the Gemini G.E.L. workshop, which was located at 8365 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood in 1973, Hockney's print is as much a portrait as it is a document of the exact moment he created it. Hanging on the wall behind Celia is a print of a mountain, "Snow" from Hockney's "Weather" series," also completed in 1973.

Other impressions of this print are held in the collections of the Fine Art Museums of San Francisco, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Walker Art Center in Milaukee, the Morgan Library, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Overall good condition. Full margins with deckled edges. The sheet very slightly toned, showing mostly on the verso. An unobtrusive,1.5" H x 0.5" W, rectangle of reverse staining showing faintly in both the upper left and upper right margin corners, attendant with an old linen hinges on the verso of those margin corners. Three pea-sized pale foxmarks showing only on the verso of the upper margin edge. The sheet is loose, not mounted.

Unframed; Sold with its Plexiglas and metal frame: 49" H x 32.75" W x 1.5" D Condition reports are offered as a courtesy and are typically published in Moran's catalogue or can be made available upon request. The absence of a condition report does not imply that an item is free from defects or restoration, nor does a reference to particular defects imply the absence of others. Buyers are responsible for determining to their own satisfaction the true nature and condition of any lot prior to bidding. Though buyers are not legally required to inspect lots prior to purchase, failure to do so may constitute a waiver of complaint that an item was not delivered in a condition equal to the existent condition at the auction.