NY auction house sells Hockney painting for $7.9M, a record for popular British artist’s work

Hockney painting sells for record $7.9 million

NEW YORK — David Hockney’s painting “Beverly Hills Housewife” sold for a record $7.9 million after fierce bidding Wednesday, a sign that collectors are eager to buy rare and high-quality works despite the recession, the Christie’s auction house said.

A Claes Oldenburg sculpture “Typewriter Eraser,” from 1976, also set a record, selling for $2.2 million at the auction of post-war and contemporary art.

The previous record for a Hockney painting was $5.4 million for “The Splash” sold in 2006 at Sotheby’s.

The 12-foot-long, 6-foot-high painting had been estimated to fetch from $7 million to $10 million.

The 20 contemporary artworks from the estate of Los Angeles arts patron Betty Freeman, who died in January at age 87, were the highlight of the auction.

Hockney painted “Beverly Hills Housewife” from 1966 to 1967. The painting by one of Britain’s most popular artists shows Freeman in a pink dress standing on the patio of her California home.

Christie’s said 18 of the 20 artworks from the Freeman estate sold for a total of $31.6 million, in range with an earlier estimate of $24 million to $37 million. Bidding failed to reach the reserve price for two of the works.

The uncertain economic climate has softened parts of the art auction market. But Christie’s said that 30 of the 54 lots offered Wednesday evening sold for more than $1 million.

The strong sales are “a clear and resounding vote of confidence in the market from a deep pool of collectors around the world, competing for almost every lot in the sale,” said Marc Porter, president of Christie’s Americas. “The results show there is continued readiness to compete for rare and high-quality works, especially from estates, museums and private collections.”

Christie’s didn’t reveal the identities of the buyers at Wednesday’s sale, whose final prices included commissions paid to the auction house.

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