David Hockney's Pool Painting Selling for 'Nearly £70 Million' in 2018: True
“In 2018, one of David Hockney's swimming pool paintings sold for nearly £70 million at auction”
The argument in brief
The claim is accurate. David Hockney's 'Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)' sold at Christie's New York on 15 November 2018 for $90,312,500 — approximately £70.3 million at the time, according to Christie's own auction records. If anything, 'nearly £70 million' slightly understates the final figure.
Data: Christie's auction results and published reports, 2013 & 2018
Why it spread
The sale was a genuine world-record moment covered by every major news outlet simultaneously, and the British press naturally translated the dollar price into pounds for domestic audiences. A round, memorable figure like '£70 million' sticks in the mind and gets reshared easily, which is exactly why it spread — it was both accurate and striking.
The claim is that one of David Hockney's swimming pool paintings sold for nearly £70 million at auction in 2018. That is true, and the actual figure is marginally higher than the claim suggests.
The painting in question is 'Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures),' a 1972 work depicting a swimmer underwater and a suited figure gazing into the pool from the edge. According to Christie's own auction records, it sold at Christie's New York on 15 November 2018 for $90,312,500 including buyer's premium. At the USD/GBP exchange rate prevailing in mid-November 2018 — approximately 1.28 to 1.29 — that converts to roughly £70.3 million, confirmed independently by BBC News, The Guardian, and The Art Newspaper, all reporting on 16 November 2018.
The sale also set a world auction record for a living artist at the time, surpassing the previous record held by Jeff Koons, whose 'Balloon Dog' had sold for $58.4 million in 2013. Hockney's price beat that benchmark by more than $31 million.
The only steelman worth considering is whether the £70 million figure is a misleading currency conversion — exchange rates fluctuate, and the dollar price is the definitive one. That is a fair technical point. But all four independent sources — Christie's, the BBC, The Guardian, and The Art Newspaper — cited the sterling equivalent as approximately £70 million based on the rate at the time of sale, making the conversion both standard and well-sourced. The claim's use of 'nearly £70 million' is, if anything, conservative: the actual sterling equivalent was closer to £70.3 million.
It is also worth being precise about the painting's subject. The work does feature a swimming pool prominently, so describing it as a 'swimming pool painting' is a reasonable shorthand, though its full title acknowledges the two human figures as central to the composition. This is a minor characterisation point, not an error.
The manipulation pattern to watch for here is the reverse of what usually drives debunks: this claim circulates as genuine, verifiable fact, and it is. The risk is not that people believe something false, but that the figure gets inflated in retelling — '£70 million' becoming '£100 million' or 'over £100 million' as the story passes through social media. Always check the original Christie's lot record, which lists the exact hammer price and buyer's premium, before repeating a round number.
Sources
- Christie's Auction House
David Hockney's 'Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)' sold at Christie's New York on 15 November 2018 for $90,312,500 (approximately £70.3 million at the time), setting a world auction record for a living artist.
- The Guardian
The Guardian reported on 16 November 2018 that Hockney's pool painting sold for $90.3 million, breaking the previous record for a living artist held by Jeff Koons.
- BBC News
BBC News confirmed on 16 November 2018 that the painting sold for $90.3 million (around £70 million), becoming the most expensive work ever sold at auction by a living artist at that time.
- Art Newspaper
The Art Newspaper reported the hammer price plus buyer's premium totalled $90,312,500, with the GBP equivalent cited as approximately £70 million based on November 2018 exchange rates.