Hockney, de Kooning highlight NY contemporary art auction

NEW YORK (AP) -- Works by Gerhard Richter, Willem de Kooning and David Hockney will highlight Sotheby's contemporary art auction later this month.

The Nov. 17 auction also will feature paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol.

Sotheby’s expects a large-scale landscape by Hockney titled "Woldgate Woods, 24, 25 and 26 October, 2006" to set a new 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 3 meters wide, is composed of six connected canvases. Sotheby’s said Hockney devised the method because of the narrow staircase of his studio.

It was included in a Hockney exhibition at the Royal Academy in London in 2012. Next February, the Tate Britain plans a retrospective of the artist’s works.

Two works by Richter, the German abstract painter, are being offered with a pre-sale estimate of between $20 million and $30 million.

"A B, St. James," a richly textured painting of red, orange, yellow, green and aquamarine blue, belongs to a series of "London Paintings" that Richter created after visiting the England capital in 1987. It is one of five executed with a horizontal orientation.

"A B, Still" is a brighter work dominated by a fiery red and cool blue with yellow scattered across the canvas.

A monumental six-panel frieze by Basquiat titled "Brother’s Sausage" is estimated to sell for between $15 million and $20 million. The young artist created it in 1983, touching on themes of prejudice, inequality and greed.

"Untitled," an expressive oil painting bursting with color by de Kooning from 1976-1977 is estimated at $8 million to $12 million.