Iconic British artist David Hockney has died at the age of 88

British artist David Hockney has died at the age of 88, his publicist announced, UNN reports citing Sky News.

Details

"Renowned British artist David Hockney, one of the most significant figures in contemporary art of both the 20th and 21st centuries, passed away peacefully at his home on June 11, 2026, just short of his 89th birthday," the statement said.

David Hockney, whose career spanned over seven decades, became one of the world's most popular artists thanks to his joyful, optimistic vision.

He created some of the most memorable images of the 20th and 21st centuries – his painting "Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)" was sold at auction in New York for $90 million in 2018.

At the time, this amount broke the record for the most expensive work sold by a living artist.

Growing up in the industrial city of Bradford, Hockney was fascinated by the light and freedoms of 1960s California, and later made the state his primary home for 40 years.

Early in his career, when abstraction was the dominant trend in the avant-garde, he challenged this trend by painting figuratively, often in bright colors with a primitivist style.

In later years, when some critics considered his passion for landscape painting a step backward, he made it clear that he "didn't care."

"Hockney's signature round glasses, Yorkshire tones, and bleached blonde hair, which in later years was replaced by a series of flat caps – his image was almost as distinctive and familiar as his paintings," Sky News notes.

"He was subversive and bold, yet playful and tolerant – putting the fun into pop art and finding freedom and fulfillment among the blue skies and swimming pools of California," The Guardian points out.

"David Hockney, who has died aged 88, was Britain’s best-loved artist – and a man of sharp opinions expressed in the broadest Yorkshire vowels. Brilliant in almost every medium, he worked with paint, photography, and the iPad. He created etchings, lithographs, even stained glass – equally at home with the grandeur of opera design and the intimacy of pen and ink," the BBC writes.

Stuart Craig, production designer for "Harry Potter" films, dies09.09.25, 15:59 • 3154 views