Opera House hopes to raise £18m from sale of Hockney portrait

The Royal Opera House has had "no alternative" but to sell its David Hockney portrait of Sir David Webster, who was CEO at Covent Garden from 1945 to 1970. The painting will be sold at auction later this month and is expected to fetch up to £18m. To compensate for its 60% loss of income since March, the opera house will also be making "significant redundancies" and is running a fundraising appeal for public donations. It has also applied for a loan from the government's culture recovery fund.