Hockney Portrait Sells for $40 Million After Past Flop.

6 hours ago7 min read1 comments

The art world is holding its breath, poised for a moment of pure cinematic vindication as David Hockney's double portrait, 'Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy,' returns to the auction block with a staggering $40 million estimate. This isn't just a sale; it's a narrative arc worthy of an Oscar-winning screenplay, a tale of initial rejection transformed into triumphant acclaim.Forty years ago, this very painting was a flop, a work that failed to capture the imagination or the chequebooks of its contemporary audience, selling for a paltry sum that now seems almost laughable. The consignors today stand to reap a staggering 7,000 percent return, a figure that speaks less to inflation and more to the profound, often fickle, recalibration of artistic legacy.The backstory is indeed thrilling, layered with the intimacy of its subjects—the renowned writer Isherwood and his much younger partner, the artist Bachardy, captured in the vibrant, sun-drenched intimacy of their California home, a testament to a relationship that itself defied convention. Hockney, at the time, was already a significant figure, yet this particular piece, with its candid composition and psychological depth, was perhaps ahead of its time, its value obscured by the market's myopic trends.Today, its resurgence is a powerful commentary on how art historical significance is forged not just in the moment of creation, but in the decades of critical re-evaluation that follow. The market for modern and contemporary masters has become a global theatre of high finance and even higher ego, where provenance and story are as crucial as pigment and brushstroke.This impending sale at a major auction house is more than a transaction; it is a canonization, a final act that seals the painting's journey from commercial misfire to blue-chip masterpiece. It forces us to question the very mechanisms of value: was the painting always a masterpiece, simply unrecognized, or has the culture around it evolved to finally meet its genius? Expert commentary would surely highlight this as a textbook example of market correction, a delayed but decisive recognition of a pivotal work from Hockney's esteemed career.The consequences ripple outward, potentially buoying the entire secondary market for Hockney's oeuvre and reinforcing the allure of post-war British art as a sound, if spectacularly volatile, investment. The narrative is a compelling reminder that in the grand gallery of art history, the final review is never written at the premiere.

#Hockney

#art auction

#portrait

#investment

#art market

#featured

#Christopher Isherwood

#Don Bachardy

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