The Latest: Hockney landscape fetches record $11.7M in NYC

NEW YORK – The Latest on Sotheby’s contemporary art sale (all times local):

9 p.m.

A monumental landscape by David Hockney sold for $11.7 million at a Sotheby’s auction of contemporary art in New York City.

Thursday’s sale of “Woldgate Woods, 24, 25 and 26 October, 2006” set an auction record for the British artist.

The previous Hockney auction record was $7.9 million, set in 2009.

The autumnal scene is part of a series of paintings inspired by the countryside of Yorkshire, England. The painting, measuring over 10 feet wide, is composed of six connected canvases. Sotheby’s says Hockney devised the method because of the narrow staircase of his studio.

Other highlights at the Thursday auction included a pair of Gerhard Richter paintings that fetched over $56 million.

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10 a.m.

Works by Gerhard Richter, Willem de Kooning and David Hockney are among the highlights of Sotheby’s contemporary art auction.

The auction Thursday evening also features paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat (zhahn mee-SHEHL’ BAH’-skee-aht) and Andy Warhol.

Sotheby’s expects a large-scale landscape by Hockney titled “Woldgate Woods, 24, 25 and 26 October, 2006” to set an auction record for the British artist. It believes the painting will bring between $9 million and $12 million.

The current Hockney auction record is $7.9 million, set in 2009.

The autumnal scene is part of a series of paintings inspired by the countryside of Yorkshire, England. The painting, measuring over 10 feet wide, is composed of six connected canvases. Sotheby’s said Hockney devised the method because of the narrow staircase of his studio.