David Hockney, the celebrated artist renowned for his iconic paintings of sunlit Los Angeles pools, has passed away at the age of 88, according to his publicist. Hockney, originally from northern England, spent a significant part of his life in Southern California, often capturing its bright suburban landscapes in his work.
In his later years, Hockney returned to Europe, drawing new inspiration from the lush landscapes of Yorkshire, his home county, and the picturesque scenery of Normandy, France. He became one of the UK’s most esteemed artists, with his pieces fetching record-breaking prices at auctions.
Historian Simon Schama commented on the lasting appeal of Hockney’s work, noting, “His art is admired—and loved—by millions across the globe who seek the pleasure it promises,” as he wrote in an essay for a 2025 Hockney exhibition in Paris.
Hockney’s publicist, Erica Bolton, mentioned that he passed away just weeks before his 89th birthday.
Known for his distinct round glasses and bleached-blond hair, Hockney was a prominent figure in the vibrant British and American art scenes during the 1960s, making his mark before he turned 30. His paintings are distinct for their dreamlike quality, with light reflecting off water and windows, and figures rendered in a simplified, matte acrylic style.
In a 1979 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Hockney expressed his fondness for the city, saying, “London has lots of dreary parts but I never find anything dreary in Los Angeles.”
Hockney’s early life and influences
Born on July 9, 1937, in Bradford, England, Hockney spent his early years in the industrial city known for its woolen textiles. He later attended the Royal College of Art in London, where he made a significant impact even before graduating. Art dealer John Kasmin added him to his roster of artists in 1961.
Hockney drew inspiration from a wide range of sources, including Renaissance portraitists, English landscape painter J.M.W. Turner, Pablo Picasso’s Cubism, and American pop art of the 20th century.
During a visit to the United States in 1963-64, Hockney gained attention for his modern take on “A Rake’s Progress,” originally by 18th-century artist William Hogarth. The New York Times noted in 1964 that Hockney’s work updated Hogarth with a contemporary twist, effectively marrying text and imagery for the benefit of each.
‘Just an ordinary artist’
Hockney shared with fellow pop artists a fascination with the glossy surface of contemporary life. Like Andy Warhol, who used commercial products like Brillo boxes and Campbell’s soup cans, Hockney incorporated advertising motifs, such as in his 1961 piece “Tea Painting in an Illusionistic Style” featuring a British Typhoo Tea box.
In a 1964 interview with The New York Times, Hockney expressed his appreciation for American pop art but was unsure if he belonged to the movement. “I’m just an ordinary artist,” he remarked, adding that he admired the vitality of American pop art, which seemed to influence fresh and appealing elements in England at that time. Despite this, he identified strongly with the English artistic tradition.
Hockney observed a parallel between his move to California and earlier English artists’ journeys to find the vivid light of Italy.
As an openly gay artist, Hockney explored erotic themes, portraying youthful male figures with the same care historically given to the female nude. He often used friends and lovers as models, and some works were inspired by images from men’s bodybuilding magazines.
His early works, such as “We Two Boys Together Clinging” and “Two Men in a Shower,” celebrated gay relationships during a time when homosexuality was illegal in Britain.
Hockney’s career saw early recognition when two of his drawings were acquired by the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Reflecting on his success, Hockney told The Associated Press in 1995, “The moment I first sold pictures to earn a living, I felt rich. I’ve been rich ever since. I didn’t have much money but I did what I wanted. … You are a rich man if you do the things you want to do.”
This freedom brought Hockney both acclaim and wealth, with his paintings achieving record-breaking prices. In 2018, his 1972 piece “Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)” sold for $90.3 million at a Christie’s auction, setting a record for a living artist. In February 2020, another pool painting, “The Splash,” from 1966, sold for 23.1 million pounds ($30 million) at Sotheby’s.
Although Hockney’s pool paintings are widely recognized, he also painted the bottom of the swimming pool at the historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles.
Hockney’s American scenes are well-known, but he also focused on British subjects, immortalizing his parents in portraits like “Mr. and Mrs. Clark and Percy,” a 1971 dual portrait of two English friends and their cat. This painting was ranked fifth in a 2005 BBC Radio-National Gallery (London) online poll of Britain’s greatest paintings and was the only work by a living artist in the top ten.
He lamented the decline in traditional drawing skills, considering it a fundamental artistic ability. In a 1996 interview with the AP, he said, “Human beings are the most interesting things we see, so they’re the hardest to draw,” emphasizing the importance of empathy between the artist and the subject.
His work went beyond drawing and painting
Hockney’s talents extended beyond drawing and painting. He contributed costume and set designs for theater and opera, including a notable production of “Tristan und Isolde” first staged at the Los Angeles Opera in 1987.
Throughout his seven-decade career, Hockney remained an innovator, embracing various mediums such as drawing, painting, printmaking, photo collage, and video.
In photography, Hockney blended genres by creating intricate collages of individual photos, like “Pearblossom Highway, 11-18th April, 1986,” which was a composite of multiple views of a desert highway intersection. “My photographer friends said it was a painting,” Hockney remarked to the AP in 2001, “I said it’s a photograph; I used a camera.”
The insights from his photographic work inspired Hockney to write a 2001 book, “Secret Knowledge: Rediscovering the Lost Techniques of the Old Masters.” He argued that artists have historically used lenses and optical devices more frequently than commonly believed.
In later years, he embraced iPads for drawing, finding them his preferred medium.
In the early 2000s, Hockney revisited Yorkshire’s landscapes in a series of vibrant paintings that highlighted the textures of snow and blossoms. These works were part of a 2017 exhibition at Tate Britain in London, which attracted half a million visitors and later traveled to the Pompidou Center in Paris and the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
Hockney’s design for a stained-glass window at Westminster Abbey was inspired by English landscapes, celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s long reign. Completed in 2018, “The Queen’s Window” features blossoming hawthorn trees in varied hues.
‘They can’t cancel the spring’
By this time, Hockney was recognized as Britain’s greatest living artist and a national treasure. The queen honored him in 1997 as a Companion of Honour, an exclusive award for distinguished individuals.
In 2019, Hockney moved to Normandy, France, where he created joyful iPad drawings during the 2020 coronavirus lockdown. His message, “Do remember they can’t cancel the spring,” was displayed in neon across the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris during a major exhibition that opened in April 2025.
The exhibition showcased his work from his first sold painting—a 1955 portrait of his father—to his notable L.A. swimming pool scenes, Yorkshire landscapes, portraits, opera stage designs, and depictions of Normandy’s springtime.
Art curator Norman Rosenthal, who co-organized the Paris exhibition, described Hockney as “the Picasso of our times.” In an interview with the Independent newspaper, Rosenthal said, “When I say that, people laugh at me, as Picasso was the archetypal artist of the 20th century. But David Hockney is also an incredibly popular artist whose work changes how we see things.”
Despite his aversion to government anti-smoking policies, Hockney remained an unrepentant smoker and protested when a poster for the 2025 exhibition was banned from the Paris Metro for depicting him with a cigarette.
Hockney suffered a minor stroke in 2012 and experienced increasing deafness in later years, which he claimed enhanced his visual perception. “If you lose one sense, you gain other senses, and I feel I could see space clearer,” he told the AP in 2017.
He remained dedicated to his craft, stating, “It’s my work that keeps me young,” to the Sun newspaper in 2017. “I’ve been a professional painter for 60 years. Sixty years of getting up every day and doing exactly what I want to do.”
