Record Auction Sales Highlight Masterpieces of David Hockney and Leonora Carrington
Two significant art auctions have spotlighted the high market value of works by renowned artists David Hockney and Leonora Carrington.
David Hockney's painting "A Lawn Being Sprinkled" is set to be auctioned at Christie’s, with an estimated sale price of up to $35 million. Originally purchased in 1978 by the late US screenwriter and producer Norman Lear for $64,000, the 1967 acrylic on canvas features sprinklers watering a lawn with a building and fence in the background. This sale is part of a broader auction of the Norman Lear and Lyn Davis Lear collection, anticipated to total over $50 million. Lear, celebrated for iconic TV shows like "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons," passed away in December at the age of 101.
Meanwhile, Leonora Carrington’s “Les Distractions de Dagobert” sold for £22.5 million ($28.5 million) at Sotheby’s in New York, making Carrington the most valuable UK-born female artist at auction. This notable 1945 surrealist painting was bought by Argentine businessman Eduardo Costantini after a ten-minute bidding contest. The piece is praised for its rich surreal imagery and vibrant color. Carrington, originally from Lancashire, UK, later moved to Mexico, where she became a central figure in the surrealist community until her death in 2011 at age 94.
Both sales underscore the significant and enduring value attributed to works by these artists in the contemporary art market.