Art News: Hockney's Dog Painting 17 Sells for £3.5 Million at Christie's

David Hockney's Dog Painting 17 sold at Christie's in London on Wednesday 14 October for £3.51 million ($4.64 million) with fees, well above its estimate of £1.5 million to £2.5 million. It was the first of his dog paintings ever offered at auction, and it sold after several minutes of bidding between specialists on the telephones, to applause in the room.

The painting is small, 13 by 21¾ inches, an oil on canvas of 1995 showing Stanley, the older of Hockney's two dachshunds, curled up asleep on a cushion. Hockney (1937–2026) painted Stanley and Boodgie more than forty times in 1994 and 1995, and the series was first shown at L.A. Louver in Venice, California, in the spring of 1995. The seller bought this one the following year. Our earlier article tells the story of the series and where the other paintings are.

Christie's on King Street, St James's, June 2026. Photo: Ewan-M, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

It was offered in Christie's 20th/21st Century: London Evening Sale, which followed the sale of the Peter Simon collection the same night. Between them the two auctions made £218.6 million, led by an early Kandinsky at £31.6 million.

What the result means

A first sale sets the reference point. Six of the dog paintings are thought to be in private hands, and the rest belong to the David Hockney Foundation, so few are likely to follow Dog Painting 17 onto the market. It is the smallest of the six, and any that do come up will now be measured against £3.51 million.

For most collectors the dogs arrive as prints. In 1998 Hockney made Dog Wall, fifteen etchings of Stanley and Boodgie, and single sheets from it do come to market. Our Hockney valuation page explains what decides the value of a Hockney print, starting with whether it is an edition or a poster.

If you own a work by Hockney and are thinking of selling, send us photographs for a free valuation. There is no obligation to sell, and we act for you rather than for the saleroom.

Cover: David Hockney, Dog Painting 17, 1995, oil on canvas.