Selling a Hockney
What the routes to market actually cost, how long each takes, and what happens before any of it starts.
Almost every Hockney enquiry begins in the same place: establishing what the work actually is. Edition, poster or something else covers how that is settled, and what sets the value covers what follows from it. This page is about the sale itself.
Two routes, and they are different products
| Consideration | Public auction | Private sale |
|---|---|---|
| Time to funds | 2–4 months | 2–6 weeks |
| Seller's cost | Commission, plus photography, insurance and an unsold fee | Our fee, agreed in advance — typically none |
| Price ceiling | Highest, where the work is fresh to the market | Close to auction, without the downside |
| If it does not sell | A public unsold record follows the work | Nothing is published; you keep the work |
| Best when | Strong images, scarce editions, and anything with a story | Where discretion matters, or the work has been offered before |
We broker private sales, so treat the second column as an interested party’s account of its own product. Check it against what an auction specialist tells you before you decide.
The unsold record is the real auction risk
A work that fails to sell at auction is recorded as such in the price databases every serious buyer consults, and that record follows it. For a scarce image with competitive demand the risk is worth taking. For a common later edition in average condition it often is not, and a private sale leaves nothing behind if the answer turns out to be no. What selling at auction actually costs sets out every fee that comes off the hammer price.
How it works
01Photographs of the full sheet
Unframed if that is possible, including all four margins, the signature and any numbering, and the reverse. On a Hockney the margins usually decide the whole question, and they are what a frame hides.
02Identification
We place the work against its publisher and catalogue entry — Gemini G.E.L., Petersburg Press, Waddington and the rest — and establish which medium and which edition it actually belongs to.
03A written valuation
A realistic range with the comparable results behind it, so you can see the reasoning rather than take a figure on trust. No charge, and no obligation to proceed.
04Choosing the route
Auction or private sale, and if auction, which house and which sale. The print market rewards picking the right sale more than most, and we negotiate the seller's terms rather than accept a published rate card.
05Completion
Paperwork and remittance stay in your name throughout, and you keep legal title until the funds are cleared.
Common questions
Where is the best place to sell a Hockney print?
It depends on what you have. A scarce early etching or a strong image in clean condition can justify a specialist print sale at one of the international houses. A more common later edition often does better privately, where there is no unsold record if it does not find a buyer on the day. We compare both before recommending either.
Do I need to know which edition it is before I contact you?
No. Establishing that is most of the work, and it is what we do first. Photographs of the full sheet including the margins are enough to begin.
How long does it take?
A private sale usually completes within two to six weeks. Auction is bound to the sale calendar — normally two to four months from consignment to payment, and longer if the right specialist sale is further out.
What do you charge?
Our fees are typically 0%. On rare occasions we may need to charge a 2.5% to 10% commission where the sale is complex. Even then, because we negotiate reduced seller's rates on your behalf, the overall cost is usually the same or lower than consigning directly. Third-party costs such as specialist shipping or conservation are quoted in advance.
Is it worth selling a poster?
Usually not through us, and we will tell you so rather than take the instruction. Exhibition posters have a real but modest market, and the cost of handling one properly can approach what it makes. The reason we ask for photographs of the margins first is to establish which of the two you have before anyone spends anything.
Whitebank Fine Art is an art advisory and gallery, not an auction house, and is not affiliated with any auction house or with the artist’s studio or publishers. Nothing here is investment advice.