David Hockney – Portrait of the artist (Pool with two figures)
David Hockney has become the world’s most expensive living artist. His Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) sold at Christie’s in New York last night for$90,312,500. It had been estimated at up to $80 million. After the bidding passed the $70 million mark there was a ten minute bidding battle between two rival bidders on the telephone.
The previous living artist record was held by Jeff Koons whose stainless steel Balloon Dog (Orange) sold for $58 million in 2013.
The Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale sale attracted buyers from 33 countries across five continents and totalled $357,622,500.
There were five new auction records for Hockey, Sam Gilliam (Lady Day II made $2.1 million), Pierre Soulages (Peinture 186 x 143 cm, 23 december 1959 made $10.6 million), Robert Colescott (Cultural Exchange made$912,500) and a record for a work on paper by Philip Guston (Windown $3.1 million).