David Hockney Auction Prices and Value Guide

David Hockney auction prices are tracked in Appraisily's artist market index, with source-directory coverage of 12,280 records. Use this page to review sold-lot activity, market context, and valuation factors before requesting a formal appraisal.

David Hockney auction prices: quick answer

David Hockney auction prices depend on medium, size, date, condition, provenance, edition details, attribution confidence, and recent comparable auction sales.

Artist
David Hockney
Source records
12,280
Market update
2026-02-06

Artist context

About David Hockney

David Hockney (born 9 July 1937, Bradford, West Yorkshire) is a British painter, printmaker, draughtsman, photographer, and stage designer widely regarded as one of the most influential British artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. He came to prominence as a key contributor to the Pop Art movement in the 1960s while studying at the Royal College of Art in London. Hockney is known for his restless experimentation across media, moving fluidly between oil and acrylic painting, watercolor, lithography, etching, photographic collage, and digital drawing on iPad and iPhone. His work spans iconic California swimming-pool scenes, psychologically penetrating portraits, sweeping Yorkshire and Normandy landscapes, and ambitious stage designs for opera. Major public collections holding his work include Tate, the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Centre Pompidou. He maintains an active studio practice and continues to produce new work.

Pop ArtOil paintingAcrylic paintingLithographyEtchingSwimming poolsPortraitureLandscapesDomestic interiors

Common works and media

Collectors and appraisers most commonly encounter Hockney's lithographs and etchings (including the A Rake's Progress and Blue Guitar series), signed limited-edition prints, watercolor and ink drawings, photographic collages and composite Polaroids, and iPad/iPhone digital drawings. Original oil and acrylic paintings, including pool scenes, double portraits, and landscape compositions, appear less frequently at auction and command premium values. Stage design maquettes and costume studies also surface in specialist sales.

Market and appraisal context

David Hockney maintains one of the deepest and most liquid secondary markets of any living artist, with 2,660 recorded auction lots and 1,896 priced results spanning from November 1992 to April 2026. The market is exceptionally broad in price: realized prices range from $1 for ephemera and posters to $90.3 million for museum-quality paintings. The interquartile spread ($700–$17,000) captures the bulk of print and works-on-paper activity, while the median of $4,000 reflects the large volume of editioned lithographs and etchings that trade regularly. Original paintings command a separate tier entirely—illustrated by the Bonhams sale of Courtyard, Palace of Carlos V, Alhambra, Granada (Second Version) (2004) at $1.1 million in November 2025. Major houses including Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams, Phillips, and Freeman's | Hindman compete for consignments alongside a wide network of mid-tier and regional houses (Tate Ward, Eldred's, John Moran, Los Angeles Modern Auctions, Hill Auction Gallery). Auction liquidity remains strong with 392 lots in the trailing 12 months, though this is down from 512 in the prior period—potentially reflecting broader market cooling or consignment timing. The breadth of categories—Post-War and Contemporary Art, Prints and Multiples, Works on Paper, and Photographs—means collectors encounter Hockney across virtually every sale context.

Auction categories and appraisal factors

Common auction categories

  • Post-War and Contemporary Art
  • Prints and Multiples
  • Works on Paper
  • Photographs
  • Oil painting

Value drivers

  1. Medium is a major factor: original paintings command the highest values, followed by unique works on paper, prints (with edition size and hand-coloring affecting value), and photographs
  2. Period and series matter: early 1960s Pop Art works, California pool paintings, and large-scale landscapes are among the most sought-after
  3. Provenance and exhibition history significantly affect value for major paintings
  4. Print edition size, medium (lithograph vs etching), and whether the work is signed and numbered affect valuation in the multiples market
  5. Digital works (iPad drawings) are a newer category with evolving market positioning
  6. Medium is the primary value driver: original paintings (oil/acrylic) command the highest tier, followed by unique works on paper, then signed limited-edition prints, with posters and ephemera at the lower end

Appraisal caveats

  • Hockney's market spans over six decades with enormous variation in medium, scale, and period; comparable sales should match the specific work type closely.
  • The artist remains active and prolific, with new work continually entering the market; recent production may trade differently from historical periods.
  • Prints and multiples represent a large portion of auction appearances; not all Hockney works at auction are unique paintings.
  • The price distribution is extremely wide ($1–$90.3 million) and multi-modal; the median ($4,000) reflects the dominance of prints and multiples, not the value of unique paintings.

Evidence

Sources for artist context

This source-grounded artist context passed Appraisily's promotion threshold: high confidence, strong sources.

Source-grounded artist Markdown

Data basis

This page is built from Appraisily's public auction market index. Private transactions, incomplete sale feeds, and attribution changes may not be fully represented.

LLM-readable Markdown summary for David Hockney

LLM summary index · LLM full index

Artist value FAQ

How much is David Hockney worth?

Comparable public auction sales are the best starting point, but final value depends on the specific artwork, condition, size, medium, provenance, and attribution confidence.

Can Appraisily value my David Hockney artwork?

Yes. Appraisily can review photos, dimensions, signatures, condition, provenance, and comparable market data to prepare a current valuation.