Bidder splashes out US$90 million for Hockney pool picture, beating record for work sold by living artist
- Experts say painting reflects British artist’s European and the American perspectives after he moved to California in the 1960s
A painting by British artist David Hockney fetched US$90.3 million at Christie’s on Thursday night, easily breaking the record for a work by a living artist sold at auction.
Among his famous “pool paintings”, Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) is considered one of his premier works. The previous record by a living artist was set by Jeff Koons’ Balloon Dog, which sold for US$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”, Alex Rotter, co-chairman of post-war and contemporary art at Christie’s, said in September. He noted that it reflects both the European and the American perspectives of an artist who moved to sunny California in the 1960s, and saw himself as living on both continents.
“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.