Gaby Wood · Diary: Lucian Freud s Printmaking · LRB 1 June 2023 lrb.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from lrb.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A portrait of David Hockney by his friend and fellow artist Lucian Freud sold for nearly £15million at auction yesterday.
The oil painting, which Hockney tried to buy when it was first completed, had an estimate of £12million when it came up for auction at Sotheby s in London.
But an anonymous buyer, based in the capital, has paid a total of £14.9million for it following a fierce bidding war with four other collectors.
The portrait, which has been in private hands since it was painted almost two decades ago, is Freud s sixth most expensive work to sell at auction.
His life-sized nude Benefits Supervisor Resting remains his most expensive work, selling for £35million at a New York auction in 2015.