Editor’s Note
David Hockney’s digital “Arrival of Spring” series proved a sensation at Sotheby’s London, with 17 iPad drawings selling for a combined £6.2 million—more than doubling their high estimate and repeatedly breaking the artist’s auction record for prints.
Seventeen drawings from David Hockney’s iPad series “The Arrival of Spring” were offered at a Sotheby’s London auction on October 17, fetching a total of £6.2 million (approximately ¥1.255 billion). The total hammer price more than doubled the highest pre-sale estimate, and Hockney’s auction record for a print was broken three times during the same day. The top lot, “The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011 – 19 February” (2011), sold for £762,000 (approximately ¥154 million), surpassing the previous record of £504,000 (approximately ¥102 million at current exchange rates). Furthermore, 15 of the 17 lots sold achieved new individual artist records.
This marked the first time such a significant group of Hockney’s iPad drawings had been offered at auction. According to Sotheby’s, 40% of the buyers were American collectors, and 65% of the bids were placed online. Jesica Marks, Head of Sotheby’s Prints Department in Europe, issued the following statement on the auction results:
Marks added that the fierce competition from collectors worldwide was evidence that Hockney’s experimental approach is highly valued in the market.
Hockney, who turned 88 this past July, began creating “The Arrival of Spring” series in January 2011. Raised in Bradford, West Yorkshire, he spent school holidays in East Yorkshire. He chose the familiar Woldgate as his subject, initially planning to paint on canvas. However, reluctant to stand for long hours in the winter cold, he switched to creating the works on an iPad. He produced 94 works between January and June that year, later refining the series to 51 pieces. The series was exhibited in a 2012 retrospective at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Sotheby’s noted that the 17 works sold were among the most accomplished from the series.
The auction result was a significant achievement for Sotheby’s London. The auction house’s total sales for Modern & Contemporary art over the past six months have reached £240 million (approximately ¥48.57 billion). An Evening Sale of Contemporary Art held on October 16 realized £47.1 million (approximately ¥9.531 billion), led by Francis Bacon’s “Portrait of a Dwarf” (1975), which sold for £13.1 million (approximately ¥2.651 billion), above its high estimate.