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Please find a short article below by Kerry Hall.
David Hockney is one of the most influential and celebrated contemporary British artists and is someone whose art Quastel Associates is lucky enough to come across on a regular basis. Known for his vibrant use of colour, study of space, and consistent experimentation with new media, Hockney has produced a vast and varied body of work spanning painting, photography, drawing, and digital art. His career, which began in the 1960s, has been marked by both commercial success and critical acclaim, and he remains active in today’s art world.
Hockney first made his name as part of the Pop Art movement in the 1960s. His early works often featured homoerotic themes, which were groundbreaking at the time. However, it was his series of Californian swimming pool paintings, such as A Bigger Splash (1967), that cemented his reputation as a leading figure in contemporary art. These paintings, characterised by their clean lines, bright colours, and sun-drenched atmospheres, captured the fascination of American suburban life. His style in these works was a blend of realism and abstraction, with a focus on light, space, and perspective.
Throughout his career, Hockney has continually pushed the boundaries of artistic expression. In the 1980s, he began experimenting with photography, and in the 21st century, Hockney embraced digital technology, using the iPad as a tool for creating intricate drawings and even large-scale works. His openness to new media has allowed him to remain relevant and to continue to attract new generations of fans.
Recent auction sales of Hockney’s works demonstrate his enduring appeal and market value. In November 2018, his painting Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) (1972) was sold at a Christie’s auction in New York for £70.1 million ($90.3 million), setting a record at the time for the highest price ever paid for a work by a living artist. Though surpassed since by works from artists like Jeff Koons and Beeple, this sale highlighted the immense demand for Hockney's works, particularly those from his pool series.
In June 2021, Hockney’s work Garrowby Hill (2017), a colourful landscape of the British countryside, sold for £6.6 million at a Sotheby’s auction in London. Similarly, his piece The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011 (twenty eleven), part of a series inspired by his native Yorkshire, sold for £4.8 million in December 2022.
Despite these staggering auction prices, Hockney himself has remained grounded in his approach to art. He once remarked, “I’m interested in pictures, I mean that’s the only thing. The world is very beautiful, but human beings are rather ugly.” His focus on capturing the beauty of the world—whether it be in the sun-drenched pools of California, the rolling hills of Yorkshire, or his experiments with technology—continues to captivate audiences globally.
In addition to his auction success, Hockney’s work is frequently exhibited in major museums and galleries across the world. In 2020, the Royal Academy in London hosted a major retrospective of his work, which included his iPad drawings and immersive, large-scale digital landscapes.
At 87 years old, David Hockney continues to work and create, defying the traditional boundaries of age, media, and style. His legacy as one of Britain’s greatest living artists remains unquestionable.
