David Hockney: Oil painting of rural road in Yorkshire set to fetch up to £5.5m at auction next month

The piece, More Woldgate Timber, 2009, depicts Woldgate, a rural road in a forest near Bridlington.

It will feature in the auction house’s 20th/21st Century London Evening Sale on October 9.

The estimate for the painting is £3.8m to £5.5m. Christie’s sasy the painting depicts a mature style for the artists, and is rare as a large-scale oil painting by Hockney. It is also the first time it has been put up for auction.

Christie’s currently holds the auction record for a Hockey, with Portrait of an Artist - Pool with Two Figures, 1972 selling for $90,312,500 in 2018. It also set the record for the most expensive piece by any living artist, while Christie’s has also sold seven of the 10 most expensive Hockey’s of all time.

A statement from the auction house says of More Woldgate Timber: “Hockney’s Yorkshire landscapes represent the maturation of his expressive painting style in the 2000s. Suffused with as much vitality as his Californian pictures, they reflect Hockney’s return to his roots, connecting to the British tradition of landscape painting.

“Very few large-scale oil paintings from the series remain in the market, makingMore Woldgate Timbera rare offering from this exceptional time in the artist’s career. This work is being offered at auction for the first time.”