David Hockney's Portrait of Henry Geldzahler Sells for £37.7 Million at Christie's London
At Christie's London on March 6, 2019, David Hockney's 1969 double portrait "Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott" sold for £37,661,250. The painting, part of the Ebsworth collection, depicts curator Henry Geldzahler with his partner Christopher Scott. Geldzahler, who joined the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1960, curated the landmark 1969 exhibition "New York Sculpture & Painting: 1940-1970" at the Met, featuring 408 works by 43 artists including Gorky, Pollock, Stella, Johns, Rothko, Warhol, and Rauschenberg. The auction followed Hockney's record sale of "Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)" for $90.3 million in 2018, making him the most expensive living artist at the time. The portrait was first shown at André Emmerich Gallery in New York, where Geldzahler called it a milestone with which Hockney "decided to be the best artist he could be."
Key facts
- David Hockney's 'Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott' sold for £37,661,250 at Christie's London on March 6, 2019
- The painting is the third in Hockney's Double Portraits series, created in 1969
- Henry Geldzahler curated the 1969 exhibition 'New York Sculpture & Painting: 1940-1970' at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
- The 1969 Met exhibition featured 408 works by 43 artists including Gorky, Pollock, Stella, Johns, Rothko, Warhol, and Rauschenberg
- Geldzahler joined the Met as a curator in 1960 and was a close friend of Andy Warhol and other artists
- The portrait was first exhibited at André Emmerich Gallery in New York
- Hockney's 'Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)' sold for $90.3 million in 2018, making him the most expensive living artist
- The auction was part of the Ebsworth collection sale
Entities
Artists
- David Hockney
- Henry Geldzahler
- Christopher Scott
- Arshile Gorky
- Jackson Pollock
- Frank Stella
- Jasper Johns
- Mark Rothko
- Andy Warhol
- Robert Rauschenberg
- Alice Neel
- George Segal
Institutions
- Christie's
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
- André Emmerich Gallery
- Whitney Museum of American Art
- Artribune
- NABA Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti
Locations
- London
- United Kingdom
- New York City
- United States