David Hockney, British Artist Who Reimagined Figurative Painting, Dies at 88
The prolific painter captivated the world with his sunny pool scenes and will be remembered as one of contemporary art’s most important figures
Beloved British artist David Hockney died at his home in London on Thursday, his publicist announced. He was 88. Hockney, who captivated the world with his sun-drenched pool scenes following his move to Southern California in the 1960s, first emerged as a Pop artist before going on to reimagine figurative painting and at one point held the record for the most expensive artwork sold at auction by a living artist. In 2010, he began producing a series of digital works using the then-newly introduced iPad, embracing technology as an artistic tool rather than shying away from it.
Despite a stroke in 2012, the artist, easily recognized for his trademark round glasses, never stopped creating. In 2018, he became the most expensive living artist when his Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) (1972), sold at Christie’s for $90.3 million. While he is well known for his work featuring human subjects, his pieces focusing on nature are just as impactful.
During Covid, when he was locked down in Normandy, he created digital works of the evolving landscape of where he was staying and sent them to a select group of friends. At an extensive 2025 show staged inside the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, 220 of those digital works were on display, with his words “Do Remember, they can’t cancel spring” serving as a welcome to visitors. Hockney, who was later using a wheelchair, traveled to Paris from his London home to see the exhibition before it opened and had been deeply involved in its preparation.
“Like all artists, he likes to be in control,” Sir Norman Rosenthal, the guest curator of the exhibition, said. “But rightly so. He’s one of the spectacular ones—varied, inventive, consistent.”
The digital works will also be the focus of an upcoming exhibition set to open in July at GRAY Chicago. “David Hockney: The Moon Room” will present the works Hockney created while observing the moon during his time in Normandy. “I was looking at the moon for quite a while, and when you do that, you see this halo around it that you don’t see in photographs at all because it’s too far,” he had said, about the series. “That’s an example of the way lenses push things away. In a lens view, it would be disappointingly small… My niece said that she tried to photograph a big moon, and I said, ‘Well, no, you have to draw it, like the sunrise. It can’t be photographed because it is the source of light.’”
“The Moon Room” had previously been on view at Pace Gallery in New York, which had represented Hockney since 2008. “David Hockney. Truly one of the greats. He will be missed, but leaves a golden legacy,” said gallery founder Arne Glimcher. “An artist and friend whose humanity and talent could extend the perception of all levels of society. The artist of intellectuals and the person on the street.”
Hockney is survived by his longtime partner Jean-Pierre Gonçalves de Lima, his great-nephew and studio assistant Richard Hockney, his brothers, numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins, and countless friends from all over the world.