Hockney Has Some Art Worth £80m & Some That’s Un-Sell-able

The Daily Mail’s Richard Kay is shocked to discover that David Hockney’s art is worth a lot of money:

Quietly and without any fuss, Hockney has made a staggering donation to his own charity, the David Hockney Foundation. The gift, in the form of his own artworks, has been valued at £80 million. The prolific artist set up the charity three years ago, primarily to oversee his extensive collection. It is run by a former boyfriend, Greg Evans. […] Financial experts believe Hockney’s donation is an act of philanthropy rather than a manoeuvre to reduce his tax bill.  But art critic Brian Sewell tells me: ‘I am surprised that David had £80 million worth of art lying around in his studio.’

Meanwhile, the artist continues to active create works which have no value because he has become a devotee of “painting” on the iPhone and iPad. Examples of this un-buy-able work will be shown at an exhibition opening in Toronto tomorrow curated by Charlie Schieps:

Hockney admits there are things that still need to be figured out. He hasn’t yet offered an iPhone- or iPad-made work for sale—something that’s caused ambivalence over his digital images in the international art press. “You can’t put a value on the work,” explains Scheips. “They are subversive because you might print them, or you might delete them. But no one can say what they’re worth.” As well, there have been cynics, who call iPad images “computer art,” a misnomer, according to Scheips. “People don’t call drawing ‘pencil art.’ And just because you do work with crayons doesn’t mean that Crayola owns your work.”

Hockney has a different comment. No more than a paintbrush could teach Rembrandt how to paint, the iPad, he says, “can’t teach you how to draw.”

Modest British artist David Hockney, 74, ‘worth a staggering £80 million’ (Daily Mail)

Imagine Rembrandt with an iPad (Macleans)