Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Is This Hockney Painting or Any Painting Worth $80 Million?
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 7 years ago on
September 14, 2018

Share

NEW YORK — One of David Hockney’s famous “pool paintings” is coming to auction and is expected to sell in the $80 million range, easily breaking the record for a work by a living artist.
The British artist’s “Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures),” to be auctioned at Christie’s on Nov. 15, is considered one of his premier works.
Christie’s has estimated the work at about $80 million but says it expects it to sell for more.

Record Now Is $58.4 Million

The previous record for a work by a living artist was set by Jeff Koons’ “Balloon Dog,” which sold for $58.4 million in 2013.
The 1972 painting by Hockney, now 81, is “the holy grail of his paintings, from both the historical and the market perspectives,” said Alex Rotter, co-chairman of post-war and contemporary art at Christie’s. He noted that it reflects both the European and the American perspectives of an artist who came to live in sunny California in the ’60s and saw himself as living on both continents.

“And with Mr. Hockney one of the last of his generation still standing, and also painting, this painting will likely be the most expensive work by a living artist sold at auction.” — Alex Rotter of Christie’s
“It has all the elements that you would want in a Hockney painting,” Rotter said in an interview. He noted that writers have referred to the swimming pool as being sort of a self-portrait of Hockney, though he never confirmed that, just saying he was fascinated to paint moving water.
The painting has been held by a private collector, and “we have been trying to get it for a very long time,” Rotter said.
A depiction of two men — one swimming the breaststroke underwater, the other standing by the pool looking down — the painting was originally inspired, according to background provided by Christie’s, by two photographs Hockney found juxtaposed on his studio floor, one of a swimmer in Hollywood in 1966, and another of a boy staring at something on the ground.
The rocky landscape is in southern France, and the standing figure is said to represent Peter Schlesinger, whom the artist met in 1966, when the younger man was a student in one of Hockney’s art classes at UCLA. For the next five years, according to Christie’s, he was both “the great love of Hockney’s life” and one of his favorite models.
The relationship ended in 1971. Hockney had already begun the painting and he abandoned it, starting again the following year.

Who Will Buy It?

The upcoming sale, Rotter said, “will definitely be a record for David Hockney at auction. And with Mr. Hockney one of the last of his generation still standing, and also painting, this painting will likely be the most expensive work by a living artist sold at auction.”
But who will buy an $80 million painting?
“It will be someone who wants the best painting of an artist,” Rotter said, “and the best painting of an artist with historical relevance.”
He added: “Wherever it ends up, I can tell you it will be surrounded by other top works of the 20th century.”

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

UP NEXT

Tens of Thousands of Jews Gather for Traditional Blessing in Jerusalem

Fresno Political Consultant Now Listed in Documents Tied to Mailer Attacking Vang

1 hour ago

How Picnickers and Anglers Can Skip the Gate to Lakes McClure and McSwain

2 hours ago

NAACP Sues US Education Department Over DEI School Funding Cuts

(Reuters) – The NAACP sued the U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday to stop its alleged illegal effort to cut off funding to school...

15 minutes ago

A demonstrator speaks through a megaphone during a Defend Our Schools rally to protest U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order to shut down the U.S. Department of Education, outside its building in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 21, 2025. (REUTERS File)
15 minutes ago

NAACP Sues US Education Department Over DEI School Funding Cuts

40 minutes ago

Why Is It So Expensive to Build Affordable Homes in CA? It Takes Too Long

Tulare County Sheriff's Office detectives are investigating a shooting in Strathmore that left a man wounded late night on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (Tulare County SO)
52 minutes ago

Tulare County Couple Arrested After Baby Tests Positive for Cocaine

1 hour ago

Fresno Political Consultant Now Listed in Documents Tied to Mailer Attacking Vang

2 hours ago

How Picnickers and Anglers Can Skip the Gate to Lakes McClure and McSwain

The Pentagon building is seen in Arlington, Virginia, U.S. October 9, 2020. (REUTERS File)
2 hours ago

Exclusive: Top Hegseth Advisor Dan Caldwell Put on Leave in Pentagon Leak Probe

2 hours ago

Homeless Man Wins Life-Changing $1 Million on Lottery Scratcher in SLO

Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders attends a campaign rally of Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S., November 4, 2024. (REUTERS File)
3 hours ago

Arkansas Asks USDA to Let It Ban Soda, Candy From Food Stamps Program

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend