Hockney's pool painting sells for record $90M

There’s a new record for a painting by a living artist.

An iconic 1972 painting by British artist David Hockney soared to $90.3 million at Christie's on Thursday.

With Christie's commission, "Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)," surpassed the auction house's pre-sale estimate of about $80 million, according to Reuters.

A bidding war developed between two determined would-be buyers once the work hit $70 million.

Jeff Koons' sculpture "Balloon Dog," which sold for $58.4 million in 2013 held the previous record.

Hockney's previous auction record was $28.4 million.

The 1972 work by the 81-year-old British artist, depicts a man in a pink jacket looking down on another figure swimming underwater in a pool, was reported to have been consigned by British billionaire currency trader Joe Lewis.

Christie's did not identify the seller or the successful bidder, who was bidding via telephone during a nearly 10-minute contest for the work.

The price went far to boost the success of Christie's post-war and contemporary art auction, which took in a total of $357.6 million, roughly the middle of its expected range, with 41 of the 48 lots on offer finding buyers.

Other sale highlights included Francis Bacon's "Study of Henrietta Moraes Laughing," which sold for $21.7 million against a pre-sale estimate of $14 million to $18 million, and Alexander Calder's "21 Feuilles Blanches," which more than doubled its high estimate, selling for just under $18 million.