Key Takeaways
- Snow is up 451% since 2017 and has set a new floor at £55,000–£65,000.
- Rain hasn't appeared at auction since October 2023, reinforcing its relative scarcity within the series.
- Lightning has more than tripled in value, rising from around £6,000 to over £20,000 in less than a decade.
- Only one complete set has come to auction in ten years selling for £228,651.
- Four associated works – Dark Mist, Snow Without Colour, and two Lightning studies – sit outside the formal six but share the series' visual language and are increasingly collected alongside it.
The Weather Series Collection Summary 2017–2026
David Hockney Snow Print Value
Among the six prints in The Weather Series, Snow has produced the most consistent market records. With ten auction appearances across the decades, it has moved from a hammer price of £11,700 in 2017 to £65,000 (£81,900 with fees) in 2025, representing a 451% increase in eight years. Crucially, that appreciation has not been driven by a single outlier result. Two 2025 sales, both at major London auction houses, achieved hammer prices of £65,000 and £55,000 respectively, placing the work among the strongest performers in the series.
The trajectory from 2020 is particularly notable. Snow first surpassed £40,000 in 2020, establishing a new pricing benchmark for the work. Subsequent sales consolidated around that level before advancing further in 2024 and 2025. Rather than relying on a single record result, Snow has demonstrated a steady progression in value across multiple auction cycles.
For sellers, Snow presents one of the strongest cases for consignment within The Weather Series. The work combines one of the highest levels of market participation in the series with a proven ability to absorb higher price points. At the same time, supply remains limited, with only two examples appearing at auction in the past two years.
David Hockney Sun Print Price and Market Demand
Sun is the most actively traded print in the series, with eleven auction appearances over the decade. Where Snow leads on price appreciation, Sun leads on liquidity – and increasingly, on geographic reach. Three 2025 sales spanned London, the US, and Japan, with the Japanese result of £49,741 (£57,948 with fees) setting a new record for the print. That breadth of buyer geography suggests demand is not confined to a single collector base or region.
Its market trajectory shows a clear step-change after 2020. Before that, it consistently traded in the £10,000–£15,000 range. In late 2021, Bonhams achieved £48,000 (£60,000 with fees) – more than three times the prior average – effectively establishing a higher pricing benchmark for the print. Since then, it has traded consistently in the £36,000–£50,000 band across six consecutive appearances, with no reversion to earlier levels.
For buyers, Sun offers one of the most liquid entry points into the upper tier of the series, combining regular market availability with an increasingly international collector base. That breadth also gives sellers meaningful flexibility in placement.
David Hockney Lightning Print Value and Market Momentum
Lightning is one of the least frequently traded prints in The Weather Series, but recent results suggest growing market attention. Before 2023, it had appeared at auction only twice in the ten-year period, trading at around £6,000. In 2023, two sales near £15,000 marked a significant shift, more than doubling its earlier pricing level and establishing a new benchmark for the print.
Activity accelerated further in 2025, when Lightning appeared three times within nine months. Hammer prices progressed from £13,000 in March to £22,500 in October across sales in London and New York, representing a 73% increase within a single year. The first 2026 result, at £22,000 (£28,380 with fees), suggests that this higher pricing level has, so far, been maintained.
Despite this recent growth, Lightning continues to trade at a substantial discount to the series’ leading works. Its most recent results remain well below those achieved by Snow and Mist, highlighting the different pricing tiers that have emerged within The Weather Series. For buyers, Lightning remains one of the few prints in the series where market benchmarks are still relatively recent and transaction history remains limited.
Despite this recent growth, Lightning's most recent results remain below the pricing levels achieved by Snow and Mist, highlighting the different pricing tiers that have emerged within the collection. For buyers, Lightning remains one of the few prints in the series where market benchmarks are still relatively recent and transaction history remains limited.
David Hockney Rain Print Auction Record
Rain is one of the most valuable prints in The Weather Series and the rarest at auction. Just four public sales have been recorded over the past ten-year period. Despite that scarcity, values have risen significantly, from a hammer price of £32,000 in 2017 to a record £89,278 (£107,133 with fees) in 2022, an increase of almost 180% in five years.
The work’s most recent auction activity came in 2023, when two examples sold within weeks of one another for £107,100 and £68,000 respectively (with fees). While the two results demonstrate some variation in pricing, both sat comfortably above the levels established prior to 2022, reinforcing the work’s higher pricing position within the series.
For collectors and sellers alike, Rain occupies a distinctive position within the series. Much of its market strength derives from scarcity; as a result, price discovery remains limited, increasing the importance of private-market activity when examples do become available.
David Hockney Mist and Wind Print Prices
Mist has appeared at auction eight times over the past ten-year period, making it one of the more frequently traded works in The Weather Series. Prices have generally ranged between £28,000 and £41,000, although the current auction record of £41,366 (£52,534 with fees), achieved in 2025, was for a Special Proof, which typically carries a premium. Excluding proof variants, auction results indicate a relatively stable market centred around the £30,000 level.
Wind has the shortest auction history in the series, having first appeared publicly in 2023. Three sales that year achieved prices between £9,000 and £16,500, followed by a record 2024 result of £19,092 (£24,056 with fees). While transaction volume remains limited, the available results point to a gradual increase in value over a relatively short period.
With only four auction appearances recorded to date, Wind remains one of the least-tested markets within The Weather Series. Unlike other works within the collection there is not yet a substantial body of sales data from which to draw long-term pricing trends. As further examples come to market, future results will help establish more clearly where the print sits within the broader series.
David Hockney The Weather Series Complete Set Value
October 2023 marked a defining moment for The Weather Series. Sotheby’s London offered five of the six individual prints alongside a complete set – the only complete set to appear at auction in more than a decade. The set achieved a hammer price of £181,400 (£228,651 with fees), compared with £91,000 when another complete set sold in 2012, representing a 99% increase at hammer over eleven years.
The auction’s impact extended beyond the complete set itself. The sale brought multiple individual works from the collection to market at the same time, creating a rare opportunity to assess demand across the series. Sixteen prints sold in 2023, generating more than £594,000 in hammer value – the highest annual turnover recorded for the series and four times the volume seen in 2022. Activity fell back to four sales in 2024 before rebounding to nine sales and more than £353,000 in value during 2025. The variation in annual sales volume reflects the limited number of works that come to market each year. Despite these fluctuations, values across the series have generally continued to strengthen, particularly for works with the most established auction records.
Dark Mist and Snow Without Colour: The Associated Weather Series Prints
Four works sit outside the formal six-print suite but are closely associated with The Weather Series: Dark Mist, Snow Without Colour, Study of Lightning (Medium), and Small Study of Lightning. Produced during the same period and sharing many of the visual characteristics of the series, they have developed a distinct market alongside the core set.
Of the four, Dark Mist has delivered the strongest price growth, rising from £7,600 in 2017 to £22,300 in 2023. Snow Without Colour occupies a higher value tier, reaching £30,000 in 2020 and subsequently trading in the £27,000–£28,000 range. Neither work has appeared at auction in recent years, limiting the availability of current pricing benchmarks.
The two Lightning studies trade at considerably lower levels and have generated a more modest auction record. Small Study of Lightning has sold five times, achieving prices between £1,500 and £6,600, while Study of Lightning (Medium) occupies the middle ground between the studies and the larger associated works. Together, these four prints demonstrate that collector demand extends beyond the formal suite, creating a broader market for works connected to The Weather Series.
| Artwork | Auction House | Date | Price Realised (with fees) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rain | Heffel | June 2022 | £107,133 |
| Rain | Christie's | September 2023 | £107,000 |
| Snow | Christie's | March 2025 | £81,900 |
| Snow | Phillips | September 2025 | £70,950 |
| Rain | Sotheby's | October 2023 | £82,550 |
David Hockney The Weather Series Prices in 2025 and 2026
The market for The Weather Series has evolved considerably since 2020. What was once a relatively niche segment of the Hockney print market, characterised by infrequent trading and modest price levels, has developed into a more established collecting category with a decade of auction history and increasingly defined valuation benchmarks.
The six prints now occupy distinct positions within the series hierarchy. Snow has emerged as the most consistently traded work, supported by the deepest auction history and the strongest record of price appreciation. Rain remains the rarest and highest-valued print, while Lightning continues to establish its position following a period of rapid repricing. Together, the results demonstrate that market performance varies significantly between individual works, despite their shared place within the same series.
The complete set occupies a category of its own. With only two documented public auction appearances since 2012, opportunities for direct comparison remain exceptionally limited. The 2023 Sotheby’s result provided an important benchmark, but more broadly reinforced a pattern seen across the series as a whole: availability remains the primary constraint on market activity. When examples do emerge, collectors have consistently demonstrated a willingness to compete for them.
MyArtBroker specialises in the private placement and auction advisory of prints and editions. To discuss instant valuation, consignment, or acquisition for works from The Weather Series, browse David Hockney works on the Trading Floor and get in touch with our specialists.
Methodology
All prices referenced in this report are hammer prices in GBP unless otherwise stated. Where prices are described as “with fees”, buyer’s premium has been applied. All charts use hammer prices. This report draws on data from MyArtBroker’s proprietary print market database, which tracks auction results from over 400 auction houses worldwide.
Analysis covers publicly recorded sales of the six core Weather Series prints and the complete set from 2017 through mid-2026. Associated works (Dark Mist, Snow Without Colour, and the Lightning studies) are referenced separately where noted and are not included in aggregate figures. This report is intended as a research tool, providing datadriven insights to support informed decision-making around buying and selling in the art market. Please note that while every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, there may be errors. This report does not constitute financial advice, and MyArtBroker is not liable for any investment decisions made based on its contents.
