UK - 2nd page
in addition to Bacon.
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Turner Freud Early Freud Hockney Doig Groups Orientalism Oceania Cities Venice Landscape Music and dance
Chronology : 1830-1839 1840-1849 1968 1969 1970-1979 1972 1980-1989 1980 1983 1990-1999 1990 1994
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Turner Freud Early Freud Hockney Doig Groups Orientalism Oceania Cities Venice Landscape Music and dance
Chronology : 1830-1839 1840-1849 1968 1969 1970-1979 1972 1980-1989 1980 1983 1990-1999 1990 1994
TURNER
1
1835 Rome from Mount Aventine
2014 SOLD for £ 30.3M by Sotheby's
Turner visited Rome twice, in 1819 and 1828. He was dazzled by that city which was trying to organize its modernity without denying its glorious past. During his first trip, he was concerned about illustration and drew hundreds of sketches of views and monuments. The goal of the second visit was to soak in the atmosphere for producing oils on canvas.
Turner had a friend as difficult as himself in his temper : Hugh Munro of Novar. It was the time of the watercolorist travelers and Munro would have liked to become an artist. Turner tried to help him but the younger man was not skilled. He was to become one of the greatest art collectors of his time.
When Turner returned from Rome, Munro commissioned him with a painting on which the city was to be shown with the greatest topographic truth. Turner reinspected his drawings. The oil on canvas showing the view of Rome from Mount Aventine, 93 x 126 cm, was completed in 1835.
In the morning light, this view is a masterpiece from that period of great maturity of the artist. The blurring by mist above the Tiber is a pre-impressionist feat. The drawing of the urban texture is of high detail all over the huge extent of the city and the animation is nice.
This work could be a pendant with a view from Capitoline hill purchased in 1839 by Munro. Passed in 1878 in the collection of the Earls of Rosebery, both paintings have remained in a fabulous condition. The view from the Capitol was sold for £ 29,7M by Sotheby's on July 7, 2010.
This painting was sold for £ 30.3M from a lower estimate of £ 15M by Sotheby's on December 3, 2014, lot 44. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Grok thought :
Quote
Sotheby's @Sothebys Dec 3, 2014
Hands up for #MrTurner! New record for artist as late masterpiece 'Rome, from Mount Aventine' soars to £30,322,500
Turner had a friend as difficult as himself in his temper : Hugh Munro of Novar. It was the time of the watercolorist travelers and Munro would have liked to become an artist. Turner tried to help him but the younger man was not skilled. He was to become one of the greatest art collectors of his time.
When Turner returned from Rome, Munro commissioned him with a painting on which the city was to be shown with the greatest topographic truth. Turner reinspected his drawings. The oil on canvas showing the view of Rome from Mount Aventine, 93 x 126 cm, was completed in 1835.
In the morning light, this view is a masterpiece from that period of great maturity of the artist. The blurring by mist above the Tiber is a pre-impressionist feat. The drawing of the urban texture is of high detail all over the huge extent of the city and the animation is nice.
This work could be a pendant with a view from Capitoline hill purchased in 1839 by Munro. Passed in 1878 in the collection of the Earls of Rosebery, both paintings have remained in a fabulous condition. The view from the Capitol was sold for £ 29,7M by Sotheby's on July 7, 2010.
This painting was sold for £ 30.3M from a lower estimate of £ 15M by Sotheby's on December 3, 2014, lot 44. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Grok thought :
Quote
Sotheby's @Sothebys Dec 3, 2014
Hands up for #MrTurner! New record for artist as late masterpiece 'Rome, from Mount Aventine' soars to £30,322,500
- Sotheby's 2014 post celebrates the auction of J.M.W. Turner's 1835 painting "Rome, from Mount Aventine," which fetched £30.3 million—nearly double its £15-20 million estimate and a then-record for the artist, underscoring surging interest in Romantic landscapes.
- The oil-on-canvas work, one of fewer than 10 Turners in private hands before the sale, captures Rome's Tiber River and ancient ruins from Mount Aventine at sunset, exemplifying Turner's innovative use of light and atmosphere that influenced Impressionism.
- Provenance traces to its 1835 Royal Academy debut and the Earls of Rosebery collection; the anonymous buyer's acquisition highlights ethical protocols in art sales, as queried in replies, ensuring cultural heritage compliance amid booming Old Masters market.
Hands up for #MrTurner! New record for artist as late masterpiece 'Rome, from Mount Aventine' soars to £30,322,500 pic.twitter.com/4BleLQDJYs
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) December 3, 2014
2
1839 Rome from Capitoline Hill
2010 SOLD for £ 29.7M by Sotheby's
Long after his two trips to Rome in 1819 and 1828, the Eternal City has continued to fascinate him. In 1839 he gathers these travel memories to compose a large oil on canvas, 90 x 122 cm.
The artist has placed the easel of his memory at the top of Capitoline Hill. The city lies before him, fully bathed in a wonderful light that enhances the perspective. The foreground is animated with efficiency and discretion by goatherds and peasants.
Do not look for photographic truth in this image. According to the style of that time, the position of the buildings owes more to art than to reality. But it is no longer a capriccio, and ancient and pontifical monuments are finely drawn.
Such a masterpiece on the art market is by itself an event. Its exceptional condition makes it one the most important auction lots of the year. The painting has kept its original freshness and frame. It had previously appeared only once on the art market, in 1878. The Earl of Rosebery paid 4,450 guineas for it, on the occasion of his honeymoon.
It was sold by Sotheby's on July 7, 2010 for £ 29.7M from a lower estimate of £ 12M. See below the video shared by Sotheby's and the image shared by Wikimedia.
Grok thought from an ArtHitParade tweet :
The artist has placed the easel of his memory at the top of Capitoline Hill. The city lies before him, fully bathed in a wonderful light that enhances the perspective. The foreground is animated with efficiency and discretion by goatherds and peasants.
Do not look for photographic truth in this image. According to the style of that time, the position of the buildings owes more to art than to reality. But it is no longer a capriccio, and ancient and pontifical monuments are finely drawn.
Such a masterpiece on the art market is by itself an event. Its exceptional condition makes it one the most important auction lots of the year. The painting has kept its original freshness and frame. It had previously appeared only once on the art market, in 1878. The Earl of Rosebery paid 4,450 guineas for it, on the occasion of his honeymoon.
It was sold by Sotheby's on July 7, 2010 for £ 29.7M from a lower estimate of £ 12M. See below the video shared by Sotheby's and the image shared by Wikimedia.
Grok thought from an ArtHitParade tweet :
- The post announces the July 7, 2010, Sotheby's auction sale of J.M.W. Turner's 1839 oil painting "Modern Rome – Campo Vaccino," a luminous view from Rome's Capitoline Hill overlooking the Colosseum and Forum, for a record £29.7 million (about $44.5 million USD at the time).
- This price doubled the pre-sale estimate of £12-18 million and surpassed Turner's prior auction record of £11.2 million from 1989, reflecting renewed collector interest in British Romantic landscapes during post-recession market recovery.
- Purchased by the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the canvas—painted after Turner's 1828 Italian tour—exemplifies his innovative light effects and atmospheric style, later displayed as a centerpiece in the museum's European art coll
3
Giudecca
2006 SOLD for $ 36M by Christie's
Venice had a hard time taming Turner. His first tour of Italy, in 1819, included only a short visit to Venice, which he completely avoided in 1828. Inspired by poets, he conceived his views of Italy and Greece by unleashing his own imagination from sketches brought back by his friends.
Turner had an unlimited confidence in the correctness of his vision. Annoyed by the posthumous influence of Bonington, he exhibited new views of Venice during the summer of 1833 at the Royal Academy, to serve as models of the expression of atmosphere and poetry in painting, without having seen again the City of the Doges. He made his second stay there at the end of the same year and finally considered including Venice in his regular work.
An identical sequence of events took place in 1840, with two views of Venice exhibited at the Royal Academy before his departure for his third and final visit, which lasted two weeks only. This time the ethereal charm of Venice has operated.
In the following years, Turner was making a distinction between the watercolor sketches and the views in larger format which he considered as his finished works, the only ones worthy of being exhibited and sold. His finished views of Switzerland are large watercolors and his finished views of Venice are oils on canvas.
Painted in his studio after his come back, the panoramic views of Venice deserved a larger format than the watercolors. In order not to lose anything in the luminosity and the freshness of the colors, he paints Venice in oil with the same pigments as his watercolors. The pre-impressionist atmosphere also suggests that he had transferred the wet in wet technique of his watercolors onto his canvases, before adding the more realistic narrative drawing of the gondolas.
On April 6, 2006, Christie's sold as lot 97 for $ 36M a view of the Giudecca with La Donna della Salute and San Giorgio. This oil on canvas 61 x 92 cm was prepared by Turner for the 1841 exhibition of the Royal Academy. As often with this artist, the perfection of the composition and the color balance prevail over the topographic reality.
A 24 x 30 cm watercolor showing the Dogana under the new moon was sold for £ 960K by Christie's on July 10, 2014, lot 209. The evanescent clarity may be compared with the atmosphere of the oil on canvas discussed above.
Grok thought :
Quote
xpc @xpuigc Mar 9, 2018
Giudecca, la Donna della Salute and San Georgio 1841 William Turner 61x91.5 cm. oil canvas
Turner had an unlimited confidence in the correctness of his vision. Annoyed by the posthumous influence of Bonington, he exhibited new views of Venice during the summer of 1833 at the Royal Academy, to serve as models of the expression of atmosphere and poetry in painting, without having seen again the City of the Doges. He made his second stay there at the end of the same year and finally considered including Venice in his regular work.
An identical sequence of events took place in 1840, with two views of Venice exhibited at the Royal Academy before his departure for his third and final visit, which lasted two weeks only. This time the ethereal charm of Venice has operated.
In the following years, Turner was making a distinction between the watercolor sketches and the views in larger format which he considered as his finished works, the only ones worthy of being exhibited and sold. His finished views of Switzerland are large watercolors and his finished views of Venice are oils on canvas.
Painted in his studio after his come back, the panoramic views of Venice deserved a larger format than the watercolors. In order not to lose anything in the luminosity and the freshness of the colors, he paints Venice in oil with the same pigments as his watercolors. The pre-impressionist atmosphere also suggests that he had transferred the wet in wet technique of his watercolors onto his canvases, before adding the more realistic narrative drawing of the gondolas.
On April 6, 2006, Christie's sold as lot 97 for $ 36M a view of the Giudecca with La Donna della Salute and San Giorgio. This oil on canvas 61 x 92 cm was prepared by Turner for the 1841 exhibition of the Royal Academy. As often with this artist, the perfection of the composition and the color balance prevail over the topographic reality.
A 24 x 30 cm watercolor showing the Dogana under the new moon was sold for £ 960K by Christie's on July 10, 2014, lot 209. The evanescent clarity may be compared with the atmosphere of the oil on canvas discussed above.
Grok thought :
Quote
xpc @xpuigc Mar 9, 2018
Giudecca, la Donna della Salute and San Georgio 1841 William Turner 61x91.5 cm. oil canvas
- This 2018 post by art enthusiast @xpuigc shares J.M.W. Turner's 1841 oil painting "Giudecca, la Donna della Salute and San Georgio," depicting a luminous Venetian canal view with gondolas and iconic landmarks like Santa Maria della Salute.
- The artwork exemplifies Turner's innovative use of light and color to evoke atmospheric haze, a technique that influenced later Impressionists, as evidenced by its loose brushwork and ethereal sky over the Giudecca canal.
- Measuring 61x91.5 cm, the canvas was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1841 and is now in a private collection, highlighting Turner's prolific Venetian series from his multiple trips to the city.
Giudecca, la Donna della Salute and San Georgio
— xpc (@xpuigc) March 9, 2018
1841
William Turner
61x91.5 cm.⁰oil canvas pic.twitter.com/O5anE6Mna6
HOCKNEY
1
1968 Isherwood and Bachardy
2025 SOLD for $ 44M by Christie's
Isherwood and Bachardy, acrylic on canvas 210 x 300 cm, was sold for $ 44M by Christie's on November 17, 2025, lot 29A.
Asking Grok to compare Geldzahler and Scott, sold by Christie's in 2019, with his Isherwood and Bachardy.
Grok thought :
Overview
David Hockney's double portraits from the late 1960s represent a pivotal phase in his career, blending realism, perspective, and intimate depictions of personal relationships. Both Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott (1969) and Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy (1968) are large-scale acrylic paintings portraying gay couples in their environments, capturing Hockney's fascination with light, space, and human connection. The former sold at Christie's in 2019 for $49.5 million, while the latter is slated for Christie's 20th Century Evening Sale in New York on November 17, 2025, with an estimate of up to £45 million (approximately $58 million). These works are part of a rare series of only seven double portraits Hockney created between 1968 and 1975, with Isherwood and Bachardy being the inaugural piece and Geldzahler and Scott following shortly after.Artistic ComparisonBoth paintings exemplify Hockney's "naturalistic" style of the period, influenced by Renaissance masters like Piero della Francesca and American minimalism. They feature meticulous one-point perspective, crystalline light effects, and textured surfaces, with symbolic still lifes in the foreground. However, subtle differences highlight evolving themes:
Geldzahler and Scott is a key follow-up, featured in major retrospectives like Tate Britain's 2017 Hockney show. Both have extensive exhibition histories, including overlaps at venues like the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They underscore Hockney's role in queer art history, portraying same-sex couples with dignity amid 1960s societal constraints.
Aspect
Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy (1968)
Acrylic on canvas, 83.5 x 119.5 in. (212 x 303.5 cm)
Novelist and artist in Santa Monica living room with books and fruit.
First in the double portrait series.
Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott (1969)
Acrylic on canvas, 84 x 120 in. (214 x 305 cm)
Art curator and partner in New York apartment with skyline view.
Early in series (post-1968 works).
Overall, Isherwood and Bachardy edges out as more seminal due to its primacy in the series and direct ties to Hockney's California inspiration, while Geldzahler and Scott offers a bolder urban narrative. Their proximity in creation underscores Hockney's rapid mastery, with market interest likely driving the 2025 sale to new heights.
Pre sale Grok thought :
Quote
ARTnews @artnews Sep 18
A marquee lot in Christie’s 20th century evening sale in New York in November will be David Hockney’s “Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy” (1968), a double portrait of the storied English writer and his American artist partner in their home in Santa Monica, California.
Asking Grok to compare Geldzahler and Scott, sold by Christie's in 2019, with his Isherwood and Bachardy.
Grok thought :
Overview
David Hockney's double portraits from the late 1960s represent a pivotal phase in his career, blending realism, perspective, and intimate depictions of personal relationships. Both Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott (1969) and Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy (1968) are large-scale acrylic paintings portraying gay couples in their environments, capturing Hockney's fascination with light, space, and human connection. The former sold at Christie's in 2019 for $49.5 million, while the latter is slated for Christie's 20th Century Evening Sale in New York on November 17, 2025, with an estimate of up to £45 million (approximately $58 million). These works are part of a rare series of only seven double portraits Hockney created between 1968 and 1975, with Isherwood and Bachardy being the inaugural piece and Geldzahler and Scott following shortly after.Artistic ComparisonBoth paintings exemplify Hockney's "naturalistic" style of the period, influenced by Renaissance masters like Piero della Francesca and American minimalism. They feature meticulous one-point perspective, crystalline light effects, and textured surfaces, with symbolic still lifes in the foreground. However, subtle differences highlight evolving themes:
- Composition and Subjects: Isherwood and Bachardy depicts the English novelist Christopher Isherwood (right, gazing at his partner) and artist Don Bachardy (left, directly engaging the viewer) in their sunlit Santa Monica living room. The scene includes books, a bowl of fruit (notably a large banana, possibly symbolic), and blue shutters framing the couple in a domestic, intimate setting that celebrates their long-term relationship and California queer culture. In contrast, Geldzahler and Scott shows Metropolitan Museum curator Henry Geldzahler (central, framed by New York skyscrapers) and his partner Christopher Scott (right, as a peripheral figure), emphasizing urban dynamism and a dialogue between the subjects and the artist. The New York skyline adds a metropolitan energy absent in the more relaxed, West Coast vibe of the earlier work.
- Style and Technique: Both use acrylic for sharp, vibrant colors and explore acts of seeing through glass and reflections. Isherwood and Bachardy feels more foundational, with Hockney experimenting with spatial arrangement and sightlines in a brightly lit interior. Geldzahler and Scott builds on this, incorporating sharper shadows and a broader exploration of texture across surfaces like glass tables, creating a sense of fleeting interaction.
- Themes: Each captures Hockney's interest in homosexual relationships during a time when they were often taboo. Isherwood and Bachardy is overtly celebratory of a stable partnership in a "middle-class" context, influenced by Isherwood's literary world (e.g., A Single Man). Geldzahler and Scott delves into art-world dynamics, with Geldzahler's curatorial prominence adding layers of cultural glamour.
- Historical and Cultural Significance
Geldzahler and Scott is a key follow-up, featured in major retrospectives like Tate Britain's 2017 Hockney show. Both have extensive exhibition histories, including overlaps at venues like the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They underscore Hockney's role in queer art history, portraying same-sex couples with dignity amid 1960s societal constraints.
- Market Value and Sale Details
Aspect
Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy (1968)
Acrylic on canvas, 83.5 x 119.5 in. (212 x 303.5 cm)
Novelist and artist in Santa Monica living room with books and fruit.
First in the double portrait series.
Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott (1969)
Acrylic on canvas, 84 x 120 in. (214 x 305 cm)
Art curator and partner in New York apartment with skyline view.
Early in series (post-1968 works).
Overall, Isherwood and Bachardy edges out as more seminal due to its primacy in the series and direct ties to Hockney's California inspiration, while Geldzahler and Scott offers a bolder urban narrative. Their proximity in creation underscores Hockney's rapid mastery, with market interest likely driving the 2025 sale to new heights.
Pre sale Grok thought :
Quote
ARTnews @artnews Sep 18
A marquee lot in Christie’s 20th century evening sale in New York in November will be David Hockney’s “Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy” (1968), a double portrait of the storied English writer and his American artist partner in their home in Santa Monica, California.
- ARTnews highlights David Hockney's 1968 acrylic double portrait "Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy" as a marquee lot in Christie's 20th Century Evening Sale on November 17, 2025, in New York, capturing the novelist and artist in their Santa Monica home amid blue shutters, wicker chairs, and a fruit bowl.
- This work, Hockney's first in a series of seven double portraits, marks a pivotal moment in his career, blending psychological intimacy with art-historical references like Piero della Francesca; it has appeared in every major Hockney retrospective and was recently exhibited at Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris through August 2025.
- Held in a private collection for 40 years, the painting's estimate is available on request, reflecting its status as a revolutionary depiction of a same-sex relationship in 1960s California, with the single reply noting the contrast between Hockney's Bradford origins and the subjects' sunlit setting.
2
1969 Geldzahler and Scott
2019 SOLD for £ 38M by Christie's
Looking for sexual freedom, David Hockney arrives in California in 1964. The easy life nevertheless does not answer his questioning about communication within a couple.
Between 1968 and 1977 he makes double portraits in very large format, 214 x 305 cm. He alternates between homosexual and heterosexual couples and ends the series with his own parents, clearly assessing that his concern is no longer sex but dialogue. The sitters are most often identified in the title and are very recognizable.
Invariably the two characters are distant from each other with a deliberately orthogonal gazing. In this strange intimacy, the painter is an invisible social voyeur.
Installed again in London in 1968, he does not neglect America. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is preparing a major exhibition that will reveal post-war American art to the general public. The curator of this important cultural operation is the highly influential Henry Geldzahler.
Hockney arrives in Geldzahler's living room in Manhattan with his sketchbook, polaroid camera and flu. Back in his studio in London, he paints in 1969 'Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott'. This acrylic on canvas was sold for £ 38M by Christie's on March 6, 2019, lot 8.
The two men could not be more dissimilar and yet their life as a couple is sustainable. Robust and confident in himself, Geldzahler is comfortably seated in the middle of a beautiful sofa worthy of the greatest Art Deco collections. On the right, his young partner is standing, dressed in a raincoat too big for him and as stiff as the floor lamp. The scene is located by the skyscrapers beyond the small window.
Grok thought from earlier tweet :
Quote
Brindille @Brindille_ Mar 24, 2017
"Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott", 1969 #painting by David Hockney #exhibition at @Tate Britain http://tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/david-hockney…
Between 1968 and 1977 he makes double portraits in very large format, 214 x 305 cm. He alternates between homosexual and heterosexual couples and ends the series with his own parents, clearly assessing that his concern is no longer sex but dialogue. The sitters are most often identified in the title and are very recognizable.
Invariably the two characters are distant from each other with a deliberately orthogonal gazing. In this strange intimacy, the painter is an invisible social voyeur.
Installed again in London in 1968, he does not neglect America. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is preparing a major exhibition that will reveal post-war American art to the general public. The curator of this important cultural operation is the highly influential Henry Geldzahler.
Hockney arrives in Geldzahler's living room in Manhattan with his sketchbook, polaroid camera and flu. Back in his studio in London, he paints in 1969 'Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott'. This acrylic on canvas was sold for £ 38M by Christie's on March 6, 2019, lot 8.
The two men could not be more dissimilar and yet their life as a couple is sustainable. Robust and confident in himself, Geldzahler is comfortably seated in the middle of a beautiful sofa worthy of the greatest Art Deco collections. On the right, his young partner is standing, dressed in a raincoat too big for him and as stiff as the floor lamp. The scene is located by the skyscrapers beyond the small window.
Grok thought from earlier tweet :
Quote
Brindille @Brindille_ Mar 24, 2017
"Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott", 1969 #painting by David Hockney #exhibition at @Tate Britain http://tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/david-hockney…
- David Hockney's 1969 acrylic double portrait depicts influential curator Henry Geldzahler seated on a pink sofa with partner Christopher Scott standing nearby, overlooking a hazy New York skyline, symbolizing their personal and professional bond in the art world.
- Painted during Hockney's shift to ambitious large-scale works, it represented a career turning point, later fetching $49.8 million at Christie's in 2019 as a rare early example of his mature style.
- Posted by art aficionado @Brindille_ amid the Tate Britain's Hockney retrospective, the image underscores the painting's role in exploring queer identity and urban modernity through stylized domestic scenes.
3
1972 Portrait of an Artist
2018 SOLD for $ 90M by Christie's
David Hockney reaches his paradise on Earth in 1964. In Los Angeles the sky and the water of the pools are blue in different shades to which the midday sun brings a perfect purity. This atmosphere exacerbates his homosexual sensibility. Peter Schlesinger becomes his lover and muse in 1966.
David sees by chance on the floor of his studio the conjunction of two photographs that can constitute a scene : a swimmer under water and a standing boy watching something in the distance. The relationship between two men has always been one of his favorite themes. He has just found a way to express his affair with Peter.
It is not so easy for this hypersensitive artist. He destroys a first version. The sudden break between the lovers occurs around that time. In the spring of 1972 David leaves with two assistants to take photographs in a house of director Tony Richardson named Le Nid du Duc in the countryside above Saint-Tropez. During the summer of 1969 David and Peter had spent a few happy days at that place.
A photograph of the swimmer suits him. It will not be a self-portrait in the picture. For the properly dressed observer who will be standing up by the pool, he finds in his archives some photographs of the real Peter, as if David now agreed to entrust Peter to an unidentifiable swimmer.
The acrylic on canvas 213 x 305 cm painted in 1972 is titled Portrait of an Artist and subtitled Pool with Two Figures. The swimmer is under water and Peter is at the edge of the pool. Although Peter's gaze is directed towards the swimmer, communication between them is impossible.
In 1974 a biopic titled A Bigger Splash tells the story of the breaking up of David and Peter. David plays his own role. The film incorporates sequences that had been shot during the preparation of the Portrait of an Artist. The mix of emotion and real intimacy makes A Bigger Splash a cult film of the gay communities, to the point of shocking David himself. He will change his mind later.
This painting was sold for $ 90M by Christie's on November 15, 2018, lot 9 C. Please watch the video prepared by the auction house including sequences from the movie.
Responses by Grok :
Quote
The Art Newspaper @TheArtNewspaper Sep 13, 2018
Will this be the most valuable work by a living artist sold at auction? @ChristiesInc to offer $80m 'holy grail' Hockney painting in New York this November http://ow.ly/Vtbe30lNMIj
Christie's @ChristiesInc Nov 16, 2018
David Hockney's 'Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)' makes a splash and sets a new #WorldAuctionRecord for a living artist, receiving $90,312,500 at auction https://bit.ly/2RWEj3r
David sees by chance on the floor of his studio the conjunction of two photographs that can constitute a scene : a swimmer under water and a standing boy watching something in the distance. The relationship between two men has always been one of his favorite themes. He has just found a way to express his affair with Peter.
It is not so easy for this hypersensitive artist. He destroys a first version. The sudden break between the lovers occurs around that time. In the spring of 1972 David leaves with two assistants to take photographs in a house of director Tony Richardson named Le Nid du Duc in the countryside above Saint-Tropez. During the summer of 1969 David and Peter had spent a few happy days at that place.
A photograph of the swimmer suits him. It will not be a self-portrait in the picture. For the properly dressed observer who will be standing up by the pool, he finds in his archives some photographs of the real Peter, as if David now agreed to entrust Peter to an unidentifiable swimmer.
The acrylic on canvas 213 x 305 cm painted in 1972 is titled Portrait of an Artist and subtitled Pool with Two Figures. The swimmer is under water and Peter is at the edge of the pool. Although Peter's gaze is directed towards the swimmer, communication between them is impossible.
In 1974 a biopic titled A Bigger Splash tells the story of the breaking up of David and Peter. David plays his own role. The film incorporates sequences that had been shot during the preparation of the Portrait of an Artist. The mix of emotion and real intimacy makes A Bigger Splash a cult film of the gay communities, to the point of shocking David himself. He will change his mind later.
This painting was sold for $ 90M by Christie's on November 15, 2018, lot 9 C. Please watch the video prepared by the auction house including sequences from the movie.
Responses by Grok :
Quote
The Art Newspaper @TheArtNewspaper Sep 13, 2018
Will this be the most valuable work by a living artist sold at auction? @ChristiesInc to offer $80m 'holy grail' Hockney painting in New York this November http://ow.ly/Vtbe30lNMIj
- The painting in the post, "Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)" by David Hockney, fetched $90.3 million at Christie's in 2018, setting a record for the highest auction price for a living artist, reflecting a surge in demand for his works that explore perception and personal relationships, notably his breakup with Peter Schlesinger.
- Hockney’s pool paintings, including this piece, were inspired by his move to California in 1964, where he captured the region’s unique light and lifestyle, with a 1967 study noting how his use of vibrant colors and distorted reflections aligns with psychological research on how humans perceive depth and emotion in art.
- The $80 million estimate mentioned in the post was conservative, as the final sale price exceeded expectations, challenging the art market's valuation norms and highlighting how auction hype and historical context can drive prices beyond traditional metrics like artist reputation or material cost.
Christie's @ChristiesInc Nov 16, 2018
David Hockney's 'Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)' makes a splash and sets a new #WorldAuctionRecord for a living artist, receiving $90,312,500 at auction https://bit.ly/2RWEj3r
- The painting "Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)" by David Hockney, sold for $90.3 million in 2018, reflects his personal turmoil after a breakup, with the artwork's creation process detailed in the 1974 documentary "A Bigger Splash," showcasing how emotional distress fueled his prolific 1972 output.
- This sale broke the previous auction record for a living artist ($58 million for Jeff Koons' "Balloon Dog" in 2013), highlighting a surge in demand for contemporary art, supported by a 2019 Art Basel and UBS report showing a 6% annual growth in global art market value from 2014-2018.
- The painting's value exceeds its original 1972 sale price of $18,000 (adjusted to $135,000 in 2024), illustrating the speculative nature of art investment, with a 2023 study from the Journal of Cultural Economics noting that works by living artists can yield returns up to 10% annually, outpacing traditional assets like stocks.
4
1980 Nichols Canyon
2020 SOLD for $ 41M by Phillips
David Hockney could not do any more without Los Angeles. In 1978 he moves there permanently. The workshop is downside, in the plain of Santa Monica. The residence is up, in the Hollywood Hills. Everyday, morning and evening, his journey passes through Nichols Canyon. The environment is idyllic : swimming pools, palm trees, blue sky, bright colors.
The road is both winding and wide. It was built in 1925 to give the megalopolis a comfortable road escape to the north. David knows all its twists and turns. He drives with musical gestures. The melody he sings compensates for his increasing deafness.
David is not a professional musician. He is a pictorial artist. To express the pleasure of his journey, he paints in 1980 Nichols Canyon, acrylic on canvas 213 x 152 cm, with colors inspired by the vibrant exaggerations of the Fauvistes.
The musical meanders of the road cross all the space. It is a real road : its shortened name, Nichols Cyn Rd, is inscribed like on a road map. The STOP at the place where the road leaves the hills, in the foreground, marks the exit from that paradise. The red dot in the middle of the route symbolizes the artist's Mercedes-Benz.
Nichols Canyon was sold for $ 41M by Phillips on December 7, 2020, lot 10. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
David had pleasure in communicating in this work his musical style of driving in the hills. Painted ten years later with the same inspiration in a more spectacular perspective, Pacific Coast Highway and Santa Monica, oil on canvas 198 x 305 cm, was sold for $ 28.5M by Sotheby's on May 16, 2018.
Grok thought :
Quote
PHILLIPS @phillipsauction Dec 8, 2020
David Hockney's monumental painting 'Nichols Canyon,' 1980 sells for $41,067,500 setting a new world auction record for a landscape by the artist #DavidHockney
The road is both winding and wide. It was built in 1925 to give the megalopolis a comfortable road escape to the north. David knows all its twists and turns. He drives with musical gestures. The melody he sings compensates for his increasing deafness.
David is not a professional musician. He is a pictorial artist. To express the pleasure of his journey, he paints in 1980 Nichols Canyon, acrylic on canvas 213 x 152 cm, with colors inspired by the vibrant exaggerations of the Fauvistes.
The musical meanders of the road cross all the space. It is a real road : its shortened name, Nichols Cyn Rd, is inscribed like on a road map. The STOP at the place where the road leaves the hills, in the foreground, marks the exit from that paradise. The red dot in the middle of the route symbolizes the artist's Mercedes-Benz.
Nichols Canyon was sold for $ 41M by Phillips on December 7, 2020, lot 10. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
David had pleasure in communicating in this work his musical style of driving in the hills. Painted ten years later with the same inspiration in a more spectacular perspective, Pacific Coast Highway and Santa Monica, oil on canvas 198 x 305 cm, was sold for $ 28.5M by Sotheby's on May 16, 2018.
Grok thought :
Quote
PHILLIPS @phillipsauction Dec 8, 2020
David Hockney's monumental painting 'Nichols Canyon,' 1980 sells for $41,067,500 setting a new world auction record for a landscape by the artist #DavidHockney
- David Hockney's "Nichols Canyon" (1980) captures a winding Hollywood Hills road through vibrant, abstracted layers of color, blending real observation with memory to pioneer his 1980s panoramic landscapes.
- The Phillips auction sale for $41,067,500 in December 2020 surpassed the $35 million estimate, establishing a record for Hockney landscapes that remains unbroken as of 2025 amid rising demand for his works.
- The post underscores the 2020 art market surge during the pandemic, with a reply highlighting the painting's value exceeding one-tenth of Bob Dylan's $300 million song catalog sale that year.
FREUD
1
1983 After Watteau
2022 SOLD for $ 86M by Christie's
Lucian Freud was keen to confront his art with antique or ancient masterpieces.
In 1981 the renowned collector Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza is sitting in Lucian's studio in London for a portrait, achieved in 1982. Behind the head, the artist paints in a fair rendering a half hidden replica of a small fête galante by Watteau recently acquired by the Baron.
The Watteau, titled Pierrot content, features five characters in a garden, four of them seated in a row on a bench. A pretty Columbine is playing mandolin. Lucian will transfer this scene into his own universe in a stand alone picture.
Lucian's oil on canvas, titled Large Interior, W11 (After Watteau) is completed in 1983. It is unprecedented in Lucian Freud's art by its size, 185 x 198 cm, by the staging of more than two characters, and by the fact that the sitters dis not attend together the posing sessions.
It is typical by its very thick impasto and by the fact that Watteau's figures have been replaced by close relatives including his daughter Bella playing Columbine with the mandolin.
The rest of it is Lucian's fancy. The scene is staged in his studio, also referred by the part post code W11 in the title. Watteau's charming high society faces are replaced by unpleasantly concerned figures in creased attire, two of them bare foot.The fountain is now a sink with a running tap. The bench had been recently acquired by Lucian for £ 7.
After Watteau was sold for $ 86M by Christie's on November 9, 2022, lot 34.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc Nov 10, 2022
#AuctionRecord From the Paul G. Allen Collection, Lucian Freud’s ‘Large Interior, W11 (after Watteau)’ set an auction record for the artist with a price realized of $86.265 million
In 1981 the renowned collector Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza is sitting in Lucian's studio in London for a portrait, achieved in 1982. Behind the head, the artist paints in a fair rendering a half hidden replica of a small fête galante by Watteau recently acquired by the Baron.
The Watteau, titled Pierrot content, features five characters in a garden, four of them seated in a row on a bench. A pretty Columbine is playing mandolin. Lucian will transfer this scene into his own universe in a stand alone picture.
Lucian's oil on canvas, titled Large Interior, W11 (After Watteau) is completed in 1983. It is unprecedented in Lucian Freud's art by its size, 185 x 198 cm, by the staging of more than two characters, and by the fact that the sitters dis not attend together the posing sessions.
It is typical by its very thick impasto and by the fact that Watteau's figures have been replaced by close relatives including his daughter Bella playing Columbine with the mandolin.
The rest of it is Lucian's fancy. The scene is staged in his studio, also referred by the part post code W11 in the title. Watteau's charming high society faces are replaced by unpleasantly concerned figures in creased attire, two of them bare foot.The fountain is now a sink with a running tap. The bench had been recently acquired by Lucian for £ 7.
After Watteau was sold for $ 86M by Christie's on November 9, 2022, lot 34.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc Nov 10, 2022
#AuctionRecord From the Paul G. Allen Collection, Lucian Freud’s ‘Large Interior, W11 (after Watteau)’ set an auction record for the artist with a price realized of $86.265 million
- Lucian Freud's "Large Interior, W11 (after Watteau)" fetched $86.265 million at a 2022 Christie’s auction from the Paul G. Allen Collection, reflecting a surge in demand for 20th-century art, with the collection itself exceeding $1 billion, a record for private art sales.
- The painting, created between 1981-1983, reinterprets Jean-Antoine Watteau’s style with a raw, observational approach, aligning with Freud’s unique contribution to art history, as evidenced by its comparison to works like Picasso’s reinterpretations of Delacroix in peer-reviewed art journals.
- Its high value underscores a broader trend of art as investment, with a 2023 study from the Journal of Cultural Economics noting a 15% annual return on high-profile artworks, challenging the notion that such purchases are purely aesthetic.
2
1994 Benefits Supervisor Resting
2015 SOLD for $ 56M by Christie's
Relying on his knowledge of art history, Lucian Freud is not like everyone else. His considerations on others are not based on the expression of faces or attitudes but on the smallest details of entirely naked bodies, male and female, which he observes endlessly like a zoologist who has to describe a rare specimen.
Leigh Bowery has been one of his male models since 1988. Leigh is a post-punk dancer, stylist and creator of night clubs. He outrageously exhibits his homosexuality with exuberant make-up, high heels and latex body tights.
In 1990 Leigh invites Lucian to meet Sue Tilley who is benefits supervisor in an employment agency and cashier of one of his clubs in Piccadilly. Sue is 33 years old and weighs about 137 kg. She is an interesting specimen : Lucian considers that her flesh without muscle has generated an unusual texture of the skin, of which he observes all the folds and shadows. In real life her obesity is less visible because the body is held by her clothing.
The first painting had been done in 1993. Sue was lying naked on the floor. Lucian appreciates that this uncomfortable position is not conducive for achieving his goal. He will set a sofa on which Sue can now keep and retrieve a serene position. The repetitive sitting sessions occupy every Saturday and Sunday and sometimes more for several months in a row. The small precise movement of the brush follows a systematic observation of the model, without impulse or emotion, for many hours.
Freud used Sue's professional occupation as a nickname. The second painting, Benefits Supervisor resting, was executed in 1994. This oil on canvas 151 x 161 cm was sold for $ 56M from a lower estimate of $ 30M by Christie's on May 13, 2015, lot 31B. The artist has succeeded. The body is the only subject of this nude painting The folded legs accentuate the swellings. The head head thrown backwards has no other role than to ensure the stability of the attitude.
Benefits Supervisor sleeping, oil on canvas 151 x 219 cm painted in 1995, was sold for $ 33.6M by Christie's on May 13, 2008, lot 37.
The body is reclining on the sofa with an acceptable head position on a cushion, probably at the request of the model, bringing a better impression of quiet intimacy. Please watch Christie's interview with Sue Tilley beside this painting before the sale.
Leigh Bowery had died of AIDS in December 1994. Sue Tilley will publish a biography of him in 1997.
Grok thought :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc May 14, 2015
Lucian Freud’s Benefits Supervisor Resting realized $56,165,000, a #worldauctionrecord for the artist.
Leigh Bowery has been one of his male models since 1988. Leigh is a post-punk dancer, stylist and creator of night clubs. He outrageously exhibits his homosexuality with exuberant make-up, high heels and latex body tights.
In 1990 Leigh invites Lucian to meet Sue Tilley who is benefits supervisor in an employment agency and cashier of one of his clubs in Piccadilly. Sue is 33 years old and weighs about 137 kg. She is an interesting specimen : Lucian considers that her flesh without muscle has generated an unusual texture of the skin, of which he observes all the folds and shadows. In real life her obesity is less visible because the body is held by her clothing.
The first painting had been done in 1993. Sue was lying naked on the floor. Lucian appreciates that this uncomfortable position is not conducive for achieving his goal. He will set a sofa on which Sue can now keep and retrieve a serene position. The repetitive sitting sessions occupy every Saturday and Sunday and sometimes more for several months in a row. The small precise movement of the brush follows a systematic observation of the model, without impulse or emotion, for many hours.
Freud used Sue's professional occupation as a nickname. The second painting, Benefits Supervisor resting, was executed in 1994. This oil on canvas 151 x 161 cm was sold for $ 56M from a lower estimate of $ 30M by Christie's on May 13, 2015, lot 31B. The artist has succeeded. The body is the only subject of this nude painting The folded legs accentuate the swellings. The head head thrown backwards has no other role than to ensure the stability of the attitude.
Benefits Supervisor sleeping, oil on canvas 151 x 219 cm painted in 1995, was sold for $ 33.6M by Christie's on May 13, 2008, lot 37.
The body is reclining on the sofa with an acceptable head position on a cushion, probably at the request of the model, bringing a better impression of quiet intimacy. Please watch Christie's interview with Sue Tilley beside this painting before the sale.
Leigh Bowery had died of AIDS in December 1994. Sue Tilley will publish a biography of him in 1997.
Grok thought :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc May 14, 2015
Lucian Freud’s Benefits Supervisor Resting realized $56,165,000, a #worldauctionrecord for the artist.
- Christie's 2015 post celebrates the $56.165 million sale of Lucian Freud's "Benefits Supervisor Resting," a life-sized nude of civil servant Sue Tilley that shattered the artist's prior auction record.
- The painting, known for its unflinching portrayal of Tilley's 280-pound form on a worn sofa, exemplifies Freud's raw style and drew bids far exceeding its $30-50 million estimate.
- This record stood until 2022, when another Freud canvas sold for $86.27 million, underscoring sustained demand for his psychologically intense figurative works.
1990 Swamped by Doig
2021 SOLD for $ 40M by Christie's
Peter Doig applies a rich kaleidoscope of colors on large size canvases, assimilating the pictorial inputs of the top masters of his century including Klimt, Pollock and Richter, knowing to mingle figurative and abstract. Questioning and criticizing the role of humanity and its incongruous traces in nature, Doig states an admiration for Hopper.
He caught a prolific inspiration in a still from the 1980 film Friday the 13th, which turns out to have been a nightmare in the following of the story. The picture of the swamp in the moonlight just before or just after the crime already raises the question of humans physically lost within nature.
As for Monet's lily pond, the image includes both the shore and its reflection in water. The lone white empty canoe shifting on the tropical lagoon and its perfect reflection are too sparkling for their light to come only from the moon. This intense internal lighting is meaning that it is the last remaining element from some human civilization.
Swamped, oil on canvas 197 x 241 cm painted in 1990, was sold by Christie's for $ 26M on May 19, 2015, lot 5A, and for $ 40M on November 9, 2021, lot 9A.
On February 7, 2007, Sotheby's sold at lot 7 for £ 5.7M a painting of similar size dated 1990-1991 whose title White Canoe removes the hint to the movie inspiration of the series.
Relying in his own memory, Doig did not take references to other film images in his career. Having grown partly in Ontario, he was possibly also influenced in that canoe series by Tom Thomson's hallucinatory paintings in the Canadian wilderness and his mysterious death in 1917 by drowning in the so called Canoe Lake in that state.
Grok thought :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc May 12, 2015
Peter Doig’s Swamped realized $25,925,000 a #worldauctionrecord for the artist
He caught a prolific inspiration in a still from the 1980 film Friday the 13th, which turns out to have been a nightmare in the following of the story. The picture of the swamp in the moonlight just before or just after the crime already raises the question of humans physically lost within nature.
As for Monet's lily pond, the image includes both the shore and its reflection in water. The lone white empty canoe shifting on the tropical lagoon and its perfect reflection are too sparkling for their light to come only from the moon. This intense internal lighting is meaning that it is the last remaining element from some human civilization.
Swamped, oil on canvas 197 x 241 cm painted in 1990, was sold by Christie's for $ 26M on May 19, 2015, lot 5A, and for $ 40M on November 9, 2021, lot 9A.
On February 7, 2007, Sotheby's sold at lot 7 for £ 5.7M a painting of similar size dated 1990-1991 whose title White Canoe removes the hint to the movie inspiration of the series.
Relying in his own memory, Doig did not take references to other film images in his career. Having grown partly in Ontario, he was possibly also influenced in that canoe series by Tom Thomson's hallucinatory paintings in the Canadian wilderness and his mysterious death in 1917 by drowning in the so called Canoe Lake in that state.
Grok thought :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc May 12, 2015
Peter Doig’s Swamped realized $25,925,000 a #worldauctionrecord for the artist
- Christie's 2015 post celebrates the $25.9 million sale of Peter Doig's "Swamped," a 1990 oil painting of a spectral white canoe in a murky, forested swamp, inspired by the horror film Friday the 13th and setting a then-record for the artist.
- The artwork's atmospheric style, blending realism and abstraction with reflective waters and looming trees, captures themes of isolation, drawing from Doig's Canadian wilderness experiences.
- "Swamped" resold for $39.9 million at Christie's in 2021, reclaiming Doig's auction record and highlighting sustained market enthusiasm for his evocative landscapes, which have appreciated over 50% since the initial sale.
