David Hockney (1937-2026) was one of Britain’s most celebrated and influential artists. Born in Bradford, Yorkshire, on 9 July 2937, he studied at Bradford School of
Art before attending the Royal College of Art in London, where he emerged as a leading figure among a new generation of British artists in the early 1960s. Although often associated with British Pop Art, Hockney developed highly individual style characterised by vivid colour, strong draughtsmanship and an enduring fascination with people, landscapes light and perspective. After first visiting California in the 1960s, he became particularly famous for his paintings of Los Angeles swimming pools and modern Californian life. Among his best-know works are A Bigger Splash (1967), Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy (1970-71) and Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) (1972)
Hockney was remarkably experimental throughout his long career. Alongside painting and drawing, he worked in printmaking, photography, stage design and digital art, enthusiastically adopting technologies such as the iPhone and iPad as artistic tools. In later years, landscapes – particularly those of Yorkshire and Normandy – became an important part of his work.
Hockney died in London on 11 June 2026, just weeks before his 89th birthday. His six-decade career established him as a major figure in modern and contemporary art, admired for continually finding new ways of representing colour, space, time and the experience of seeing.
Hockney’s works are collected in all the major art institutions around the world from The Metropolitan Museum, New York to The Tate, London.
His auction record is held at 90 million dollars for ” Portrait of an Artist ” which sold in 2018 at Christie’s London.
A major retrospective of his work organised by the Tate Britain, the Centre Pompidou and the Metropolitan Museum acknowledged the artist’s long-lasting career. In 2025 the artist’s largest-ever exhibition, “David Hockney 25” retrospective, ran at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris featuring over 400 works spanning 1955 to 2025 across paintings, drawings, digital art, and immersive installations.
