David Hockney’s Red Wire Plant (1998) is an elegant exploration of form, texture, and restraint, demonstrating his mastery of printmaking through the medium of etching and aquatint. The work presents a potted plant with wiry branches, rendered in a striking palette of red and black on Somerset paper. Against a textured red background, the pot and table merge with the surrounding space, creating a tonal harmony that emphasizes the graphic quality of the composition.

The plant itself appears both delicate and energetic. Thin, winding stems stretch outward with a sense of movement, their ends marked by sparse black leaves and blossoms. The contrast between the dark, sharply defined foliage and the warm, earthy red of the pot and backdrop creates a visual tension, simultaneously grounding the work and enlivening it. The aquatint technique gives the red passages a velvety depth, while the etched black lines introduce crispness and clarity.

This composition plays on the tradition of still life, but Hockney’s treatment avoids naturalism in favor of stylization and bold simplicity. The plant becomes a study in rhythm and balance, almost calligraphic in its structure, with each branch and leaf placed as though in dialogue with the surrounding negative space. The textured backdrop, rather than receding, actively participates in the image, enveloping the plant in a field of vibrating red marks.

Red Wire Plant exemplifies Hockney’s ability to distill an everyday subject into a composition that is at once contemplative and graphic. It reflects his ongoing fascination with domestic motifs—plants, interiors, and ordinary objects—while affirming his technical versatility as a printmaker. Through a limited palette and disciplined design, Hockney transforms the modest subject of a potted plant into a work of striking visual impact and timeless elegance.