David Hockney Value: Top Prices Paid at Auction

The Arrival Of Spring In Woldgate East Yorkshire by David HockneyThe Arrival Of Spring In Woldgate East Yorkshire © David Hockney 2011
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The average value of David Hockney's artwork has experienced a 15% compound annual growth rate over the last 5 years, with signed limited edition David Hockney prints' auction price ranging between between around £1000 and £504,000 at auction in 2022. This increase highlights the lasting allure and worth of his creations. As one of the most highly regarded British Contemporary artists still actively producing artworks, it is no wonder that David Hockney's prints continue to achieve impressive prices at auction—learn more about David Hockney's market here.

The highest price ever paid for a David Hockney painting was achieved in November 2018, when Portrait Of An Artist (Pool With Two Figures) (1972) sold for a staggering £70.7M for at Christie’s in New York .

With artworks regularly going under the hammer, David Hockney remains one of England’s most prolific artists. Despite being in his eighties, his career shows no signs of slowing down — and neither does his secondary market, with Hockney prints remaining perenially popular. This article explores the most expensive David Hockney pieces sold at auction to date.

£70.7M for Portrait Of An Artist (Pool With Two Figures)

(US$90,312,500)

Portrait Of The Artist by David HockneyPortrait Of The Artist (Pool With Two Figures) © David Hockney 1972

Portrait Of An Artist (Pool With Two Figures) became not only the most expensive work by Hockney at auction when it sold at Christie’s in New York on 15 November 2018, but also the most expensive work by any living artist at the time. The painting – which combines Hockney’s iconic swimming pool and double portrait themes – sold for almost US$30 million more than the previous record set by Jeff Koons’s Balloon Dog (Orange) from 2013. The painting is among Hockney’s most famous artworks, appearing in his 2017 landmark retrospective at Tate Britain and even satirised in the Netflix cartoon Bojack Horseman.

£37.7M for Henry Gelzahler And Christopher Scott

Henry Geldzahler And Christopher Scott by David HockneyHenry Geldzahler And Christopher Scott © David Hockney 1969

Between 1968-75, Hockney made a series of seven double portraits – one of them being the Metropolitan Museum of Art curator Henry Geldzahler and his then-boyfriend, painter Christopher Scott. When Henry Geldzahler And Christopher Scott came up for auction at Christie’s in London on 6 March 2019, it was one of just two double portraits remaining in private hands. The painting had previously been offered at Sotheby’s in New York in November 1992, where it realised US$1.1 million – 27 years later, its value in dollars was close to US$50 million.

Hockney had met Geldzahler at Andy Warhol’s ‘Factory’ in 1963. “Henry and I got on along instantly,” Hockney said later, recalling that they bonded over a love of opera, painting, Cuban cigars and that they shared the same birthday – 9 July.

£30.7M for Nichols Canyon

(US$41,067,500)

Nichols Canyon by David HockneyNichols Canyon © David Hockney 1980

Nichols Canyon captures the Hollywood Hills neighbourhood where Hockney lived in 1980. The artist drove through this landscape every day on his way to his studio on Santa Monica Boulevard. “The moment you live up here, you get a different view of Los Angeles. First of all these wiggly lines seem to enter your life, and they entered the paintings,” Hockney recalled. The painting sold for nearly US$41.1 million at Phillips in New York on 7 December 2020.

£23.1M for The Splash

The Splash by David HockneyThe Splash © David Hockney 1966

“Everyone knows a splash can’t be frozen in time, so when you see it like that in a painting it’s even more striking than in a photograph,” Hockney has said. A sister painting to the famous A Bigger Splash in the Tate collection, The Splash, made in 1966, sent ripples through the art market when it sold for over £23 million at Sotheby’s in London on 11 February 2020.

Bloomberg News speculated that the seller was the Hong Kong billionaire, collector and fugitive Joseph Lau; the auction house declined to comment. The Splash was previously sold at Sotheby’s in London in 2006, where it achieved £2.9 million – a £20 million profit in 14 years for the seller, whoever he or she is.

£22.9M for Sur La Terrasse

(US$29,501,250)

Sur La Terrasse by David HockneySur La Terrasse © David Hockney 1971

Hockney and artist Peter Schlesinger met in 1966, when Schlesinger was a history student and Hockney was a summer school drawing tutor at the University of California, Los Angeles. The two became friends and later lovers, with Schlesinger posing for many of Hockney’s paintings – including Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures). By 1971, however, the couple had grown apart.

Hockney and Schlesinger unsuccessfully tried to rekindle their relationship on a trip to Morocco – the poignant and sorrowful Sur La Terrasse was based on a series of photographs taken from the couple’s balcony at La Mamounia hotel in Marrakech. The painting was hidden in the same private collection for nearly 50 years before it was offered at Christie’s in New York on 13 November 2019, where it achieved US$29.5 million.

£21.1M for Pacific Coast Highway And Santa Monica

(US$28,453,000)

Pacific Coast Highway And Santa Monica by David HockneyPacific Coast Highway And Santa Monica © David Hockney 1990

The most expensive work by Hockney at auction at the time, Pacific Coast Highway And Santa Monica soared past the previous auction record when it was offered at Sotheby’s in New York on 16 May 2018. The large landscape was inspired by the artist’s drive from his house in Hollywood Hills to his studio on Santa Monica Boulevard. As Hockney would listen to opera while driving, he affectionately nicknamed this commute his 'Wagner drive'. “Anyone who had been on my Wagner drive would immediately recognise Pacific Coast Highway [and Santa Monica] – a multiple view of Santa Monica Bay and the mountains,” he wrote in 1993.

£20.9M for Early Morning, Sainte-Maxime

Early Morning, Sainte-Maxime by David HockneyEarly Morning, Sainte-Maxime © David Hockney, 1969

Hockney's sublime depiction of the French Riviera realised more than double it's estimate at Christie's London on 13th October 2022. One of Hockney's early paintings from 1969, this was the first time in 30 years that Early Morning, Sainte-Maxime has been offered at auction. A rare masterpiece by the British Pop artist, it is no wonder this work secured the thrilling record of over £20 million.

£19.3M for Winter Timber

($23,290,000)

Winter Timber by David Hockney - MyArtBrokerWinter Timber © David Hockney 2009

When the first instalment of Paul G. Allen Collection came to auction at Christie's, in late 2022, it contained 4 lots of Hockney, all of which sold above their estimates. This particular oil painting by Hockney outperformed them all, however, selling for a cool $23,290,000, and with the largest percentage improvement—with a final price of approximately 155% —of its high estimate out of all four lots.

£18.7M for Queen Anne's Lace Near Kilham

($18710000)

Queen Anne's Lace Near Kilham by David Hockney - MyArtBrokerQueen Anne's Lace Near Kilham © David Hockney 2010

Also featured in Christie's 2022 'Visionary: The Paul G. Allen Collection Part I', alongside Winter Timber, Hockney's Queen Anne's Lace Near Kilham surpassed its estimates, achieving a final price of $18710000. Depicting an area near Kilham, East Riding of Yorkshire, this painting's sale evidences the continued desire for Hockney's other works depicting his native Yorkshire, including for print series such as The Arrival of Spring in 2011.

£ 14.1M for Garrowby Hill

Garrowby Hill by David Hockneyimage © Sotheby's / Garrowby Hill © David Hockney 2017

Painted in 2017, this painting returns to a beloved subject for Hockney and revisits the landscape of his 1998 work of the same name. The original, which set the stage for his panoramic 2000s Yorkshire landscape series, has been revitalised by Hockney in this recent work, which sold for £14,093,950 at Sotheby’s on the 2nd March 2022. The bright, saturated palette and rolling panoramic perspective here typify Hockney’s celebrated English landscapes and nod to the artist’s own roots having grown up in Bradford, East Yorkshire.

£12.9M for Portrait Of Sir David Webster

Portrait Of Sir David Webster by David HockneyPortrait Of Sir David Webster © David Hockney 1971

On 22 October 2020, the Royal Opera House in London put a painting by David Hockney of their former chief executive up for auction at Christie’s to raise vital funds after long months of COVID-19 lockdown. Portrait Of Sir David Webster, estimated for at least £11 million, sold for £12.8 million to David Ross, the co-founder of Carphone Warehouse. A month after the sale, Ross announced on Twitter that he plans to loan the painting back to the Royal Opera House.

£11.7M for 30 Sunflowers

(HK$114,827,000)

30 Sunflowers by David Hockney30 Sunflowers © David Hockney 1996

30 Sunflowers, which achieved HK$114.8 million at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong on 9 July 2020, marked Hockney’s return to painting after nearly a decade dedicated to photography. The artist was inspired to paint again after visiting exhibitions on Claude Monet and Johannes Vermeer. The floral masterpieces of these artists – as well as Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin – is clear in 30 Sunflowers.

As Hockney once said: “Nature is great. Van Gogh worshipped nature. He might have been miserable, but that doesn’t show in his work. There are always things that will try to pull you down. But we should be joyful in looking at the world.”

£11.3M for Double East Yorkshire

Double East Yorkshire by David HockneyDouble East Yorkshire © David Hockney 1998

Double East Yorkshire, painted in 1998, was one of Hockney’s first Yorkshire landscape pictures and also one of the largest. Hockney was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, but lived between London, Paris and the United States for almost four decades from the 1950s onward. In the 1990s, he returned to Yorkshire more frequently to visit his ailing mother. When asked what inspired him to start painting East Yorkshire and the Wolds, Hockney replied: “It’s a landscape that I’ve known since childhood, so it has meaning, but I never thought of it as a subject until 10 years ago. It is full of lovely little valleys and not many people.”

Double East Yorkshire sold for nearly £11.3 million when it was offered at Sotheby’s in London on 26 October 2018. It was last sold at the same auction house in 2013, where it achieved £3.4 million – an increase of £8 million in five years.

£9.8M for Montcalm Interior With 2 Dogs

(US$12,718,000)

Montcalm Interior With 2 Dogs by David HockneyMontcalm Interior With 2 Dogs © David Hockney 1988

After spending 20 years hidden in a private collection, Montcalm Interior With 2 Dogs came up for auction at Sotheby’s in New York on 14 November 2018, where it achieved US$12.7 million against an estimate of US$9-12 million. The painting previously belonged to American TV writer, producer and 10-time Emmy Award winner Steven Bochco. Bochco, a fan of Hockney’s art, hung the painting prominently in his Los Angeles home and called it his favourite piece from his art collection.

£8.7M for Piscine De Medianoche

(US$11,743,800)

Piscine De Medianoche (Paper Pool 30) by David HockneyPiscine De Medianoche (Paper Pool 30) © David Hockney 1978

Inspired by Hockney’s friend’s swimming pool in Westchester County in New York State, Piscine De Medianoche was briefly the most expensive artwork by Hockney at auction. When it sold for US$11.74 million at Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Auction in New York on 16 May 2018, was just overtook the previous record of US$11.7 million, set by Woldgate Woods in 2016. Ten lots later, however, was Hockney’s Pacific Coast Highway And Santa Monica, which sold for US$28,453,000 – beating Piscine De Medianoche to become the most expensive Hockney artwork at auction at the time.

David Hockney Market Index - MyArtBroker

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