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The auction of a cult painting by British painter David Hockney set a new record for the work of a living artist.
"Portrait of an Artist" was auctioned Thursday in New York for about $ 90 million, as announced by Christie's auction house.
The auction was quick: if the starting price was $ 18 million, bids exceeded $ 50 million after just 30 seconds. After about nine minutes and two bidders' contest, the 1972 chart, representing two men and a pool, was sold for $ 80 million. The price is $ 90.3 million (just under $ 80 million), including auction fees.
Thus, the previous record price for the work of a living artist was clearly exceeded. The disc contained until now the sculpture "Balloon Dog (Orange)" by the American artist Jeff Koons. It had been auctioned in 2013 at an auction in New York for $ 58.4 million.
The photo is one of the most famous works of Hockney, now 81 years old, and has cult status. On the large 2.13 x 3.05 meter painting, an elegantly dressed man stands at the edge of a pool and watches a swimmer, basically an idyllic mountain landscape.
The viewer is the former lover of Hockney, Peter Schlesinger, with whom he attended between 1966 and 1972. The swimmer could be a new Schlesinger lover, said Christie's expert, Alex Rotter.
The painting captures two central elements of Hockney's art: pools and double portraits. Before the auction, Ana Maria Celis, director of Christie, said: "We can rarely say:" It is an opportunity to buy the best painting of an artist. " Here it is. "
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