British artist David Hockney, a defining figure of contemporary art, has died at 88. His publicist confirmed he passed away peacefully at his London home on Thursday.
Hockney’s seven-decade career was characterized by a multi-media approach and an intellectual inquiry into perspective. As a leading force in the 1960s Pop art movement, he captured everything from carefree California landscapes to the bucolic scenery of his native Yorkshire.
His commercial impact was undeniable. In 2018, his iconic painting "Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)" sold for $90.3 million at Christie’s, setting a then-record for a living artist.
Born in West Yorkshire in 1937, Hockney trained at the Royal College of Art before moving to Los Angeles in 1964. He remained active until the end, with new exhibitions planned for London’s Serpentine Gallery, Tate, and Oslo’s Munch Museum.
He received Britain’s Order of the Companions of Honour in 1997 and France’s Legion d’Honneur in 2026. Hockney is survived by his partner Jean-Pierre Goncalves de Lima, two brothers, and extended family.