I saw this painting in a retrospective of David Hockney's work in Paris this spring. The exhibition brings together more than 400 of his works from 1955 to 2025. This was one of my favourites: Sid and Joni Seated at Table, 2005.
I've since learned that Sidney Felsen and Joni Weyl were famous print publishers, longtime Hockney collaborators, and a couple. That last bit didn't come as a surprise. But it wasn't romantic love that drew me to this picture, it was the touch at the very centre of the painting.
For me, set against the softer colours of their clothes and the furniture, the deep, dynamic blue beautifully reflects the calmness and feelings of goodness that safe relational touch can evoke. Sid and Joni are enveloped. I love the sense of harmony, all at once-ness, but also idiosyncracy in the expressive movement of the energy about them. Their presence is an understated concert. They beam.
What do you make of it?
Image credit: Sid and Joni Seated at Table, 2005. Oil on canvas by David Hockney, Collection of the artist. As seen in David Hockney 25, a retrospective in Paris on until 31 August 2025.
