It's not often that a painting over $90 million is sold at auction. However, when it happens, the artist is usually no longer alive. Things went differently for the important contemporary artist David Hockney. When his Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) (1972) is auctioned, he is 81 years old. Today, at the age of 85, the passionate smoker, dachshund lover and above all artist can look back on an extremely complex success story.
The great and extremely versatile artist David Hockney turns 85 today. His pastel Swimming Pool series probably helped him achieve his breakthrough. The fun-loving painter, graphic artist and photographer also became known as a dachshund lover. His two dachshunds Stanley and Boogie, who lived to be over 15 and 18 years old, were always the subject of his portraits.
The man with the round glasses and the eccentric colorful style of dress provoked the public with his attitude to the increasingly frequent international smoking bans: He vehemently criticized them and saw them as a product of the pharmaceutical industry - he still lives up to his reputation as a passionate smoker today, for example, when he likes to reach for a smoke stick in interviews.
On the occasion of his birthday, the Berlin State Museums have been exhibiting some of his works since April of this year in the gallery halls of the Berlin Gemäldegalerie. The works from Hockney's landscape cycle, which come from the Würth Collection, are juxtaposed with other landscape paintings from the museum's own collection. The exhibition David Hockney - Landscapes in Dialog. The Four Seasons" of the Würth Collection as a guest in Berlin ends tomorrow, one day after Hockney's anniversary.
Hockney's works regularly fetch record prices in the millions. His Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) (1972) went over the counter for $90.3 million at Christie's auction house on November 15, 2018. It is to be hoped that the artist, significant for the 20th and 21st centuries, will continue to enrich the art world with his work for some years to come.
For the first time in over 25 years, there is another major exhibition on Jeff Wall in Canada: the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto is presenting over 50 works by the renowned artist in Jeff Wall Photographs 1984–2023. The exhibition runs until March 22, 2026.
With this exhibition, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art examines how part of its collection developed: Collecting Impressionism at LACMA opens on December 21.
