The Pool Painting That Set David Hockney's Auction Record
2 min read · 23 Jan 2025
Portrait Of An Artist (Pool With Two Figures). Image courtesy of Christie's
David Hockney's Portrait Of An Artist (Pool With Two Figures) (1972) sold for $90.31m at Christie's in New York on November 15, 2018, setting a new record for a living artist. The acrylic on canvas work had been traded 5 times in the past.
The poolside portrait, which is among Hockney's most famous works, suggests a sunny afternoon in the hills of Los Angeles, where the British artist moved in the 1960s. He painted the canvas in his London studio, working to a tight deadline for a show in New York, however.
While inspired by Southern California, the artist traveled to a villa in the South of France for a photo shoot to compose the work. Hockney also photographed his former lover, Peter Schlesinger, in Kensington Gardens in London, to create the figure of the artist standing poolside. "I literally finished the painting the night before it had to be sent off to the exhibition," Hockney recalled.
The large-scale painting, which has featured in several major shows of Hockney's work, is one of the star loans to the Fondation Louis Vuitton's sprawing retrospective opening April 9 (until September 1, 2025) in Paris.
Pacific Coast Highway And Santa Monica. Image courtesy of Sotheby's
The sale beat David Hockney’s previous auction record by $61.86m, a 200% rise.The previous record was set by Pacific Coast Highway And Santa Monica (1990), which sold for $28.45m at Sotheby's on May 16, 2018. The work had not been traded before.
A Brief History of Hockney at Auction
Sale Date | Title | Price | Record Increase | Venue | City |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018-11-15 | Portrait Of An Artist (Pool With Two Figures) | $90.31m | 217 % | Christie's | New York |
2018-05-16 | Pacific Coast Highway And Santa Monica | $28.45m | 143 % | Sotheby's | New York |
2016-11-17 | Woldgate Woods, 24, 25, And 26 October 2006 | $11.71m | 48 % | Sotheby's | New York |
2009-05-13 | Beverly Hills Housewife | $7.92m | 65 % | Christie's | New York |
2006-06-21 | The Splash | $4.8m | 50 % | Sotheby's | London |
2006-05-09 | A Neat Lawn | $3.2m | 10 % | Christie's | New York |
2005-06-22 | Seated woman being served tea by standing companion | $2.91m | 12 % | Sotheby's | London |
2002-11-13 | Portrait of Nick Wilder | $2.6m | 30 % | Christie's | New York |
1989-05-02 | Grand procession of Dignitaries in the semi-Egyptian style | $2m | 237 % | Sotheby's | New York |
1988-12-01 | A Neat Lawn | $592,700 | 14 % | Sotheby's | London |
1987-12-03 | The Room Tarzana | $520,500 | 68 % | Christie's | London |
1987-05-04 | Egyptian cafe | $310,000 | 24 % | Sotheby's | New York |
1984-10-31 | California landscape | $250,000 | 163 % | Sotheby's | New York |
1983-06-28 | Boy about to take a shower | $95,000 | 17 % | Christie's | London |
1979-12-04 | Blue interior and two still lives | $81,200 | 26 % | Christie's | London |
1973-07-05 | The Splash | $64,300 | 46 % | Sotheby's | London |
1900-01-01 | Fourteen poems. London, Alecto 1966 | $44,000 | - | Ketterer Kunst | Hamburg |
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