David Hockney Painting Expected to Break Auction Records

The current record is held by Jeff Koons' "Balloon Dog," which sold for $58.4 million

Hockney
The painting will go for at least $80 million. (Courtesy Taschen)

A painting by British artist David Hockney is expected to break records in New York this Thursday at a Christie’s auction.

The work, entitled Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), is part of the auction house’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale. It’s expected to fetch at least $80 million, CNN reported.

The 1972 painting is “one of the great masterpieces of the modern era,” according to Alex Rotter, co-chairman of post-war and contemporary art at Christie’s.

“David Hockney’s brilliance as an artist is on full display with this monumental canvas, which encapsulates the essence of the idealized poolside landscape, and the tremendous complexity that exists within human relationships,” Rotter said in a statement. “With this painting, Hockney cemented his placement within the realm of history’s most venerated artists.”

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