On Nov. 15, an anonymous buyer paid a hair over $90 million for David Hockney‘s “Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)” — a record auction price for a work by a living artist. But Hockney’s not the only artist whose oeuvre is getting expensive.
The last 12 months have seen unprecedented sums being paid for a range of works, especially contemporary ones. That’s not to say genuine old masters aren’t doing well, just that they’re in short supply; a Leonardo DaVinci work with a provenance that had been thought to be shaky set a record for any painting ever sold at auction around this time in 2017 when it sold for $450 million.
Here are five paintings that set records this year.
