A London auction devoted entirely to flowers
Sotheby’s will hold The David Hockney Sale: 20 Flowers from Normandy in London on 16 October 2026, beginning at 11:30am British Summer Time. The dedicated catalogue contains twenty works, each depicting flowers in an intimate domestic setting. Their subjects range from tall vases and glass containers to arrangements placed on tables, inviting sustained attention to how a familiar object can be transformed through colour and line.
The dates within the artworks run from January through April 2021, providing a visual sequence made during Hockney’s time in Normandy. The first listed piece, 30th January 2021, The First One, carries a pre-sale estimate of £25,000 to £35,000. The estimate is not a final result, and buyers should use the individual auction listing for any subsequent bid or sale outcome.
The domestic still life becomes a sustained experiment
One catalogue entry is titled 4th February 2021, Flowers in a White Vase with Chair, while another, 24th February 2021, Red, Yellow and Purple Flowers on a Blue Tablecloth, puts colour relationships directly into its title. This progression shows how an artist can revisit similar objects without creating the same picture repeatedly. The arrangement, background and position of a vase change the visual balance each time.
Hockney had spent the previous year observing seasonal change through his digital practice in Normandy. Turning from outdoor landscapes to flowers close at hand allowed the artist to work with a more contained subject while continuing to explore the everyday pleasures of observation. The directness of the motif is part of its strength, not a sign that the work lacks intellectual ambition.
Digital drawing and the physical object
The twenty subjects are associated with Hockney’s work on an iPad, a tool he has embraced as part of his evolving approach to image-making. Digital drawing allows changes to colour, scale and marks that differ from traditional brushwork. Yet a work offered for sale is a physical object with a precise medium, dimensions and edition or printing history that a purchaser must establish individually.
For that reason, buyers should not casually treat a digital image online as interchangeable with the art object documented by the auction house. The paper, method of printing, any signature, edition information and surface all deserve close examination. The exact Sotheby’s lot description should take precedence over general descriptions of Hockney’s technique or broader assumptions about digital art.
A collector’s guide to comparing the twenty works
A thematic group can make comparison unusually rewarding. A prospective buyer may be drawn to 28th February 2021, Roses in a Blue Vase, or to 7th April 2021, Three Daffodils in a Bottle, for reasons of colour, subject or composition. Such preferences are legitimate, but they should be accompanied by an assessment of condition, provenance, exhibition history and any documentation attached to the specific impression.
Paper and printed surfaces can be damaged by unsuitable framing, light exposure and changes in humidity. Before acquisition, collectors should ask for a condition report and advice on archival mounting and glazing, especially when a work will be displayed in a brightly lit residence. Shipping and insurance also require careful planning; the cost of ownership extends beyond a hammer price and any buyer’s premium.
Sotheby’s, Hockney and the significance of a focused sale
Sotheby’s has chosen to present the twenty flower works as a dedicated auction rather than dispersing them among unrelated contemporary lots. This gives the group an exhibition-like character and lets viewers see the sequence as a concentrated project. It also creates an opportunity to consider the later career of one of Britain’s most widely recognised living artists through a modest, recurring subject.
Hockney’s practice has ranged from painting and printmaking to photography and digital drawing, united by an interest in how people see the world. The Normandy flowers belong within that wider curiosity about perception and representation. Collectors should verify the latest catalogue and sale conditions before bidding on 16 October, and resist interpreting pre-sale estimates as guarantees of either quality or future value.
