Painting Destroys Record for Work by Living Artist at New York Auction

Talk about a hefty pricetag—on Thursday night, one painting blew the auction record for a living artist out of the water.

British artist David Hockney’s “Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)” was sold at Christie’s in New York for over $90 million. It had been predicted to earn $80 million, and was sold after a 10-minute battle between two bidders over the telephone. The winner was Marc Porter, who outbid Katherine Arnold.

“Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figure”) was painted in 1972 when the artist broke up with his American art student lover, Peter Schlesinger.

Hockney’s painting surpassed Jeff Koons’ “Balloon Dog” which sold for $58 million five years ago in 2013. The sales room reportedly broke into wild applause when the hammer dropped. The buyer’s premium and commission took the final price to $90.3 million.

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