David Hockney (1937-2026) is dead. According to a statement from his spokesperson, which was shared with the "London Standard" among others, the painter died peacefully at his home on June 11, 2026 - four weeks before he would have celebrated his 89th birthday on July 9.
For more than six decades, Hockney shaped, challenged, and continually surprised the art world. His work ranges according to the BBC from the glittering swimming pools of California to the gentle rolling hills of the Yorkshire Wolds, from Polaroid collages to iPad drawings.
Born on July 9, 1937, as the fourth of five children to a working-class family in Bradford, the path to the art world was not a given. His father Kenneth was an accountant and painted anti-war posters for local peace marches; his mother Laura lived as a Methodist and strict vegetarian. From the very beginning, the son wanted only one thing: to draw. Paper was scarce during the war, so according to the BBC, he painted on the kitchen floor.
A Rebel with Principles
At school, Hockney refused to take any subjects other than art. When he was later denied graduation from the Royal College of Art because he had not submitted the only required essay - he insisted on being judged solely by his work - public outcry forced the institution to relent. The college ultimately awarded him his diploma.
At a time when abstraction dominated the art world, Hockney painted figuratively and in vibrant colors. When critics interpreted his later shift to landscape painting as a regression, he curtly responded: He was not interested in the judgment of such people.
In 1964, Hockney flew to Los Angeles. What attracted him was not the glamour of Hollywood, but the light - and a freedom that England had not known until then. As an openly gay man at a time when homosexuality was still criminalized in England, he found space for himself in California. What followed became the core of his fame: the swimming pool series. "A Bigger Splash" from 1967, his most famous work, depicts the moment after a dive into the water. In 2018, another painting from this series, "Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)", sold at an auction in New York for around 90 million dollars - at the time a world record for a living artist.
Hockney was not deterred by any medium. In the 1980s, he created large-format Polaroid collages, and later experimented with fax machines and photocopiers as artistic tools. When the iPad came on the market, he was immediately enthusiastic and created hundreds of images with it.
Honors with Obstacles
Hockney declined knighthood in 1990. Someone from his circle is said to have accepted the Companion of Honour on his behalf and without his knowledge - which upset him. He accepted the Order of Merit because he understood it as a personal gift from Queen Elizabeth II. For his 70th birthday, the smoke detectors at Tate Britain were turned off for ten minutes so he could smoke a cigarette in peace. According to reports, it was the honor he appreciated most. A major retrospective at Tate Modern was planned for 2027 - to celebrate his 90th birthday.
