David Hockney has long explored still life as a means of personal expression, with flowers playing a particularly important role in his work. Sunflowers became especially resonant for Hockney in the 1990s, when he returned to drawing after a period focused on photography. The vibrant colour and sharply angled forms of the sunflower helped reconnect Hockney with one of his most favoured subjects.
Sunflowers embody the transience of life, and this etching captures that theme through the contrast between two large sunflowers in full bloom against the surrounding ripening buds, set within dense foliage. Hockney’s use of rich aquatint in the stems and leaves of the flowers, set against the light grain of the wall and surface, emphasizes their sturdiness and sense of weight.
Sunflowers I (MCAT 347)
Sunflower I
Medium: Etching and aquatint on Arches watercolor paper
Year: 1995
Image: 18 1/4 x 15 1/4 inches (46.4 x 38.7 cm)
Sheet: 27 1/4 x 22 5/8 inches (69.2 x 57.5 cm)
Edition: 80
Artist’s Proofs: 15 (numbered in Roman numerals)
Publishers: The artist and Lococo Mulder Inc., St. Louis
Printer: Maurice Payne, Los Angeles and New-York
Literature: Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (347)
Signed and numbered in pencil with the artist’s blindstamp
Auction Results
Bonhams London: 25 June 2025
Estimated: GBP 6,000 – 8,000
GBP 12,160 / USD 16,660
Etching with aquatint on Arches Aquarelle paper
Signed, dated and numbered 54/80 in pencil
(there were also 15 artist’s proofs in Roman numerals)Sotheby’s London: 25 September 2024
GBP 8,400 / USD 11,280
DAVID HOCKNEY (b. 1937 )
Sunflower I, 1995
Etching and aquatint on Arches Aquarelle wove paper
Signed in pencil, dated and numbered 32/80
Phillips New-York: 22 April 2021
Estimated: USD 3,500 – 4,500
USD 10,710
DAVID HOCKNEY
Sunflower I (M.C.A.T. 347), 1995
Etching and aquatint on Arches watercolor paper
Signed and annotated ‘B.A.T.’ in pencil
The bon à tirer (good-to-print impression)
The edition was 80 and 15 artist’s proofs in Roman numerals
Sunflowers II (MCAT 348)
Sunflower II
Medium: Etching and aquatint on Arches watercolor paper
Year: 1995
Image: 18 1/4 x 15 inches (46.4 x 38.1 cm)
Sheet: 27 x 22 3/8 inches (68.6 x 56.8 cm)
Edition: 80
Artist’s Proofs: 15 (numbered in Roman numerals)
Publishers: The artist and Lococo Mulder Inc., St. Louis
Literature: Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (348)
Signed, dated and numbered in pencil with the artist’s blindstamp
Auction Results
Estimated: GBP 7,000 – 9,000
GBP 14,190 / USD 19,300
(there were also 15 artist’s proofs in Roman numerals)
Estimated: GBP 6,000 – 8,000
GBP 21,760 / USD 29,810
Etching with aquatint on Arches Aquarelle paper
Signed, dated and numbered 54/80 in pencil
(there were also 15 artist’s proofs in Roman numerals)
Estimated: USD 6,000 – 9,000
USD 11,592
Phillips New-York: 21 April 2022
Estimated: USD 6,000 – 9,000
USD 13,860
DAVID HOCKNEY
Sunflower II (M.C.A.T. 348), 1995
Etching and aquatint, on Arches watercolor paper
Signed, dated and numbered 64/80 in pencil