One of David Hockney's earliest entries to his famed pool series of paintings is estimated to sell for over $20 million, or just around £16 million, in the Christie's "20th & 21st Century: London Evening Sale" on March 7.
Hockney's Modern Masterpiece Capturing the 'Mosaic-Like Cityscape'
According to a public release by the auction house, the 86-year-old English painter depicts two naked figures basking in the sun atop their inflatables, floating across a rippling outdoor pool, in his 1965 piece entitled "California."
Since 1968, the painting has been kept in a private European collection and has avoided the gaze of the public for more than 45 years, with it being last shown in a Hamburg exhibition in 1979.
When viewed, the Hockney piece seems to aesthetically swirl as its cerulean hues are balanced out and paired with an almost "foaming" texture of white.
As per the auction house's Post-War and Contemporary Art Head Katharine Arnold, the painting itself measures a modest 66 by 78 inches and was made after Hockney's "first trip to Los Angeles in 1964.
"After a childhood brought up in the north of England, and having studied in London, still reeling from the Second World War, California must have felt like Arcadia; a beautiful place to be free and enjoy being young," she explained, according to the release.
Hockney's fascination with the city was expressed vividly in the "California" piece, and for Christie's Junior Specialist Joseph Braka, it is "one of the most important pictures of the artist's career" as it was the forerunning predecessor to his many entries in the acclaimed pool series.
He added that the painting perfectly captures the dumbfounded emotion the then-young Englishman was experiencing as he was "plunged into a social revolution sweeping the West Coast of America."
Indeed, Hockney's pool paintings are something that induces a sense of amazement for the viewer, which is exemplified by the incredibly high value that his pieces sell for.
Just last 2018, the artist achieved a momentous milestone when his 1972 "Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)" piece fetched $90.3 million at a New York auction held by Christie's, which is the highest a work by a living artist was sold for.
Ahead of its sale in March, the piece will also go on tour to Paris and New York in February, allowing the public to savor Hockney's expressive genius.
