Painter David Hockney Dead At 88: See His Most Expensive Works—And How Much They Sold For

BreakingBusinessPainter David Hockney Dead At 88: See His Most Expensive Works—And How Much They Sold ForByMary Whitfill Roeloffs,Forbes Staff. Mary Roeloffs is a Forbes breaking news reporter covering pop culture.Follow AuthorJun 12, 2026, 10:57am EDTJun 12, 2026, 10:59am EDTToplineDavid Hockney, a legendary English painter known as a leading figure in the 1960s Pop Art movement, has died at the age of 88 after breaking auction records and building a massive fortune over his seven-decade career. David Hockney standing in front of his "Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)."picture alliance via Getty ImagesKey FactsHockney broke the record in 2018 for the most expensive painting ever sold at auction by a living artist with his 1972 work “Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures),” which sold for $90.3 million at Christie's New York after nine minutes of bidding. The next year, Christie's sold Hockney's painting "Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott," considered by some to be the most important work in his famous double portraits series, for $49.52 million. Just last year a Hockney painting titled "Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy," the first of his double portraits series, sold at Christie's for $44.34 million.A rare Hockney landscape painting called “Nichols Canyon,” depicting the route leading from his Hollywood Hills home on Montcalm Avenue to his studio on Santa Monica Boulevard, sold for $41.07 million in 2020. “The Splash,” one of Hockney’s most famous paintings, joined the list of the artist’s most-expensive works in 2020 when it sold to billionaire media mogul David Geffen for $29.92 million.'Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott' by David Hockney. AFP via Getty ImagesDavid Hockney's "The Splash."Getty Images for Sotheby's if (!window.cnxel) { window.cnxel = {}; window.cnxel.cmd = []; var iframe = document.createElement('iframe'); iframe.style.display = 'none...