David Hockney
Blue-chip#11
Egon Investment Scores
Liquidity
10/10
How easily works can be bought and sold at auction
Institutional
10/10
Museum collections, biennials, and institutional recognition
Momentum
9/10
Recent price trends, gallery moves, and market buzz
Discovery
1/10
Undervaluation opportunity relative to peer artists
Risk
1/10
Investment risk factors — higher means more volatile
Market Position
Recent Sales Highlights
| Work | Price | Venue & Date |
|---|---|---|
| Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy | $44,300,000 | Christie's New York, November 2025 |
| A Lawn Being Sprinkled | — | Christie's London, May 2024 |
| California | — | Christie's, May 2024 |
| L'Arbois, Sainte-Maxime | $17,190,000 | Sotheby's London |
- Pricing
- Long Term Growth
- <cite index="52-1">Demand for David Hockney's work is growing rapidly and his price index has risen by 562% since the start of the millennium</cite>
- Market Positioning
- Consistently blue-chip with eight-figure auction results
- 2024 Market Conditions
- Challenging market overall but Hockney maintains strong performance
- Liquidity
- Score
- 10
- Auction Presence
- All major houses (Christie's, Sotheby's, Phillips, Bonhams)
- Geographic Distribution
- Global - strong markets in UK, US, Asia
- Annual Transaction Volume
- High - hundreds of lots annually
- Collector Base
- Major Collectors
Name Significance David Geffen <cite index="72-8,72-9,72-10">American entertainment mogul David Geffen is one of Hockney's most prominent patrons. In 2020, Geffen reacquired The Splash (1967), one of the artist's most iconic images, at Sotheby's London for nearly $30 million. It marked the return of a painting he had previously owned decades earlier, reinforcing both the depth of his collecting and the enduring personal significance of Hockney's imagery</cite> Joseph Lau <cite index="72-1,72-2">Hong Kong billionaire Joseph Lau is a prominent figure among Hockney's collectors. Known for his bold spending and high-profile acquisitions, Lau made headlines in 2006 when he purchased an Andy Warhol Mao portrait for $17.4 million</cite> Pierre Chen — Jordan D. Schnitzer One of the largest private Hockney collections Elton John — - Institutional Collectors
- TateMetropolitan Museum of ArtCentre Georges PompidouJ. Paul Getty MuseumMoMAArt Institute of Chicago
- Primary Market
- Gallery Pricing
- Contact Pace Gallery for current pricing
- Recent Primary Releases
- 20 Flowers and Some Bigger Pictures series (2022) - iPad still lifes initially priced at $50,000 each, edition of 50
- Auction History
- Overall Auction Record
- Work
- Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)
- Sale Date
- 2018-11-15
- Amount GBP
- $70,700,000
- Amount USD
- $90,312,500
- Significance
- <cite index="14-1">In November 2018, his 1972 painting Portrait of an Artist (Pool With Two Figures) sold for a record-breaking $90.3 billion at Christie's, making it the most expensive painting by a living artist</cite>
- Year Created
- 1972
- Auction House
- Christie's New York
- Recent Major Sales 2024 2025
Work Year Created Result Auction House Significance Hammer Price GBP Hammer Price USD Sale Date Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy 1968 Within estimate Christie's New York <cite index="13-1">Last month, David Hockney achieved what is to-date one of the highest prices ever recorded for his art at auction, when Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy (1968), the debut work from his double portrait series, realized $44.3 million</cite> $44,300,000 November 2025 A Lawn Being Sprinkled 1967 Strong sale Christie's London <cite index="5-1,5-2">On May 16, 2024, auction house Christie's sold a painting by David Hockney, "A Lawn Being Sprinkled", for roughly 22.5 million British pounds, making it one of the most expensive artworks by the British artist sold at auction to date</cite> $22,500,000 May 2024 California 1965 — Christie's <cite index="11-18,11-19,11-20">2024 has seen an influx of rare works by Hockney, many making their auction debut or, like California (1965), emerging from private collections after decades. This particular painting, depicting two sunbathers floating in a pool framed by pristine green grass, showcases Hockney's early exploration of water with kaleidoscopic squiggling lines. As an early pool painting, it represents a formative phase in his career and sold for £18.7 million at Christie's May Marquee sale</cite> $18,700,000 May 2024 L'Arbois, Sainte-Maxime 1968 Exceeded high estimate by 84% Sotheby's London — $11,500,000 $17,190,000 October 2024 - Auction Performance 2024 2025
- Paintings
- Description: <cite index="9-1">In the past 12 months, his paintings have averaged 3,868,997 USD, while his works on paper have sold for an average of 132,749 USD</cite>; Price Range GBP: 1000000-90000000; Typical Range GBP: 1000000-5000000; Recent Average USD: 3868997
- Ipad Drawings
- Recent Record: {'date': 'October 2025', 'total_sale': "£6.2 million ($8.3 million) for 17 works from 'The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate' series", 'individual_record': '<cite index="94-20">The Arrival of Spring in Wo; Collector Demand: Strong - private market often outperforms auction; Price Range 2024: £60,000-£110,000 for regular sized Yosemite series; Market Performance: <cite index="53-4">Hockney's iPad drawings, candidly capturing the beauty of Hockney's surroundings, maintained their unwavering popularity, consistently fetching prices exceeding £100,000 on the mark
- Prints and Multiples
- Liquidity: High - 727 lots offered in 2024; Sell Through Rate: 77% (2024); Typical Range GBP: 1000-500000; Recent Turnover 2024: {'note': '<cite index="54-1,54-4,54-5">The long-term trajectory reveals remarkable expansion, with turnover increasing more than fivefold from £1,291,594 in 2015 to £7,224,107 in 2024 (+459%). While 2; Market Performance 2023: <cite index="11-3,11-4">David Hockney's market has experienced significant growth over the past decade, with notable year-on-year increases in his print market. In 2023, despite challenging economic c
- Market Position
- Tier
- Blue-chip
- Market Momentum Indicators
- Date
- December 2025
- Signal
- <cite index="1-1">Hockney becomes 3rd-most-searched artist on Artsy (+49% YoY searches) driven by museum exhibition circuit (Fondation Louis Vuitton, West Bund Museum)</cite>
- Signal
- Phillips dedicated annual Hockney sale - 100% sell-through rate 2022-2023
- Significance
- Institutional support solidifying market
- Impact
- Will significantly strengthen provenance and authentication infrastructure
- Signal
- Catalogue raisonné in progress - first volume (paintings) due 2026, documenting over 35,000 works
Institutional Presence
- Exhibitions
- Total Exhibitions
- Over 400 solo exhibitions, 500+ group shows
- Major Retrospectives
Title Year Venue Significance David Hockney 2017-2018 — Most comprehensive retrospective to date at that time David Hockney 25 2025 Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris Largest Hockney exhibition ever — 1988 Los Angeles County Museum of Art — — 1970 Whitechapel Gallery, London First major retrospective - Biennials and Major Shows
- Year
- 2004
- Event
- Whitney Biennial
- Significance
- Cross-generational exhibition alongside Elizabeth Peyton
- Upcoming Exhibitions 2026
- Dates
- March 12 - August 23, 2026
- Scope
- <cite index="69-3,69-4">The exhibition is conceived in close collaboration with the artist and brings Hockney's celebrated ninety-metre-long frieze A Year in Normandie to London for the first time. Inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry, which will be on display at the British Museum in 2026, this monumental work captures the changing seasons at the artist's former studio in Normandy</cite>
- Title
- A Year in Normandy
- Venue
- Serpentine North Gallery, London
- Recent Exhibitions 2024 2025
Dates Venue June 2024 - January 2026 Lightroom London / Aviva Studios Manchester November 2024 - March 2025 Palm Springs Art Museum November 2025 - February 2026 Annely Juda Fine Art, London
- Publications
- Catalogue Raisonne Status
- Scope
- Over 35,000 works documented
- Format
- Digital with ongoing updates
- Timeline
- 15-20 years to complete
- In Progress
- True
- First Volume
- Paintings - due 2026
- Museum Collections
- Major Museum Holdings
Institution Confirmed Tate (UK) — Metropolitan Museum of Art — Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) True Centre Georges Pompidou True J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles True Art Institute of Chicago True Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) True National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne True Philadelphia Museum of Art True Smithsonian American Art Museum True Victoria & Albert Museum True Cleveland Museum of Art True
- Awards and Recognition
Year Award 1962 Royal College of Art Gold Medal 2017 San Francisco Opera Medal
Career & Biography
- Career
- Age
- 88
- Identity
- Birth
- Year
- 1937
- Location
- Bradford, Yorkshire, England
- Living Status
- living
- Current Residences
- London (since July 2023)Hollywood Hills, CaliforniaMalibu, CaliforniaPreviously Normandy, France (until 2023)
- Artistic Context
- Artistic Influences
- Pablo PicassoHenri MatisseChinese scroll paintings
Artistic Profile
- Influences
Artist Influence Pablo Picasso Cubism, multiple perspectives Henri Matisse Color, line, compositional simplicity Chinese scroll painters Moving perspective, sequential viewing — Interest in optical devices and techniques - Themes and Subjects
- Swimming pools and water - exploration of surface, movement, and lightCalifornia lifestyle and architecturePortraiture - especially of friends, lovers, and familyLandscape - from California canyons to Yorkshire countryside to Normandy gardensQueer life and relationshipsDomestic interiorsNature and changing seasonsOpera and theatrical design
- Movements and Periods
- Influenced Artists
- Elizabeth PeytonNumerous contemporary painters working with figuration and domestic subjectsDigital artists working with tablets
- Artistic Innovations
- Challenged single-point perspective - incorporated multiple viewpoints in single worksPioneered serious artistic use of digital tabletsCreated photo-collages that introduce temporal element to photographyExtensive opera and theatrical design workExperimented with video, fax art, photocopier prints
- Techniques and Mediums
Characteristics Medium Flat, bright colors; careful composition; multiple perspectives Acrylic painting Continuous line drawing; colored pencil portraits; direct observation Drawing — Printmaking — Photography <cite index="93-21,93-23,93-24">Hockney said that the iPad "Takes it to a new level - simply because it's eight times the size of an iPhone, as big as a reasonably sized sketchbook." Hockney himself has remarked that, not long ago, "the computer was too slow for a draughtsman. You had finished a line, and the computer was 15 seconds later ... but things have improved, and it now enables one to draw very freely and fast with colour". With a simple tweak of an option on his iPad, Hockney had every colour, medium, and texture at his fingertips</cite> Digital (iPad/iPhone)
Critical Reception
- Critical Reception
- Level
- Extensive
- Consensus
- <cite index="75-25">As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considered one of the most influential British artists of the 20th and 21st centuries</cite>
- Publications
- Type
- Monographs
- Examples
- David Hockney by David Hockney: My Early Years (1988 memoir)
- Type
- Exhibition catalogues
- Scope
- Major retrospective catalogues from Tate, Met, Pompidou
- Type
- Art historical texts
- Significance
- Regular inclusion in pop art and contemporary art surveys
- Legacy Status
- Established as major figure in contemporary art history
- Academic Recognition
- Widely studied in art history programs; subject of dissertations and scholarly articles
- Contemporary Reviews
- Consistently positive with recognition of ongoing innovation
- Recent Critical Discourse
Reception Topic Mixed - some critics praise innovation, others question materiality Digital art and iPad drawings <cite index="85-5,85-6">"There is not a single real work by [Hockney] here to catch your memory and hold on to your soul," Jonathan Jones—a critic always ready with a hot take—wrote in the Guardian. "Without real art, this entertainment goes the same way as all the other immersive exhibitions of art icons: into the weightless, passionless dustbin of forgetting."</cite> Immersive exhibitions
- Publications and Media
- Media Presence
- Level
- Very high
- Social Media
- Strong institutional presence; work widely shared
- News Coverage
- Regular features in major art publications
- Public Recognition
- One of most recognizable living artists
- Major Publications
Title Year Publisher David Hockney: A Bigger Picture 2012 Royal Academy of Arts David Hockney: A Bigger Book 2016 Taschen Secret Knowledge: Rediscovering the Lost Techniques of the Old Masters 2001 — - Documentary Coverage
- Title
- Hockney's Pictures
- Publisher
- Thames & Hudson
- Type
- Channel 4 documentary
- Topic
- Secret Knowledge - camera obscura theory
- Type
- Exhibition films
- Scope
- Multiple documentaries on major retrospectives
Gallery & Representation
- Fair Presence
- Recent Activity
- Pace booth at Frieze New York regularly features Hockney
- Regular Presence
- Art BaselFriezeFIAC
- Representation
Location Gallery Tier — Pace Gallery Tier 1 (Mega-gallery) London Annely Juda Fine Art Established London gallery Los Angeles L.A. Louver Major West Coast gallery Paris Galerie Lelong & Co. Established European gallery Chicago GRAY (Richard Gray Gallery) Major regional gallery - Geographic Reach
- Market Availability
- Prints
- Regular availability of editions through multiple galleries
- Originals
- Limited availability - most major works in museums or long-term private collections
- Primary Market
- New works available through Pace Gallery network
- Secondary Market
- High availability through auction houses and specialized dealers
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