British artist David Hockney has passed away at age 88, remembered as a key figure in the pop art movement of the 1960s. Born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, Hockney's art was known for its bright colours, depictions of the UK and California, and his iconic piece Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures).
The painting sold for just over $90m (£70m), breaking an auction record for a living artist. He died peacefully at home on June 11, his publicist Erica Bolton said.
A statement to the Press Association said: "The celebrated British artist David Hockney, one of the most important figures in contemporary art in both the 20th and 21st centuries, passed away peacefully at home on 11 June 2026, one month short of his 89th birthday."
It added: "David Hockney’s enduring legacy reflects his underlying enthusiasm for life, his outstanding sense of humour, his immense generosity, and his investigative curiosity encapsulated by his signature phrase, Love Life." Details of memorials will follow in due course.
Hockney was born in Bradford on July 9, 1937, the fourth of five children in a working-class family. At age 11, he decided he wanted to be an artist, an ambition not encouraged by his teachers. He attended the Royal College of Art in London and was awarded the prestigious gold medal for painting. Dubbed a 'national treasure', he rejected the trend of abstraction early in his career, pursuing bright colours with a primitivist style.
He lived in California for 40 years, partly because as an openly gay man, homosexuality was still illegal in England. He embraced modern technology to produce art, creating large-scale photo collages with Polaroid prints in the 1980s and using the Brushes app on his iPad in the 2000s. He was a lifelong defiant smoker and campaigned against anti-smoking laws, smoking until the end of his life.
He is survived by his long-time partner Jean-Pierre Goncalves de Lima; his great-nephew Richard, who acted as studio assistant; his brothers Philip and John; and numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews.
Hockney embraced printmaking, set design, photography, and evolving media including photocopiers, fax machines, computers, iPhones, and iPads, as well as stained glass. After training at Bradford School of Art in the 1950s and the Royal College of Art, he graduated with Gold Medal distinction in 1962. His move to Los Angeles inspired some of his most famous paintings, documenting Southern California lifestyle. Returning to Yorkshire in the early 2000s, he produced ambitious oil paintings of local landscapes. From 2007, the iPhone and iPad became central, resulting in The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011.
In 2017, he designed the stained-glass Queen's Window for Westminster Abbey in honour of Queen Elizabeth II, unveiled in October 2018. He was appointed to the Order of the Companions of Honour in 1997 and the Order of Merit in 2012. In 2026, he became one of the few non-French citizens awarded the rank of Officer in France's Legion d'Honneur.
