Hockney Painting Makes Splash at Auction

1966 work sells for $30M
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Feb 12, 2020 1:53 AM CST
Hockney Painting Makes Splash at Auction
Two Sotheby's employees adjust David Hockney's painting 'The Splash' at Sotheby's contemporary Art sale preview in London, Friday, Feb. 7, 2020.   (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

David Hockney’s exuberant painting "The Splash" sold at auction at Sotheby's in London on Tuesday for almost $30 million. Its pre-sale estimate had been $26 million to $39 million, the AP reports. Painted in 1966, Hockney’s bold canvas shows a California swimming pool in the moment after a diver has leapt in. Hockney left gray Britain for southern California in the 1960s, and captured the intense LA light and the rippling surface of swimming pools in a series of paintings including "A Little Splash" and "A Bigger Splash." "The Splash” was last sold in 2006, when it fetched $5.4 million at a Sotheby’s auction—at the time, a record for Hockney’s work. The current record price for a work by the 82-year-old artist is $90 million, paid at a Christie’s auction in 2018 for another pool painting, "Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)."

We use cookies. By Clicking "OK" or any content on this site, you agree to allow cookies to be placed. Read more in our privacy policy.
Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X