David Hockney

1937–2026

David Hockney (1937–2026) was born in Bradford, England, in July 1937, and trained at the Bradford School of Art before studying at the Royal College of Art in London, where he was awarded the college’s gold medal on graduating in 1962. He first visited Los Angeles in 1963 and settled there the following year, becoming closely identified with the city through a celebrated series of swimming-pool paintings rendered in flat, saturated acrylic, including A Bigger Splash (1967). Over a career spanning more than six decades, Hockney worked across painting, printmaking, photography, and stage design, and in later years embraced digital tools, producing large bodies of work drawn on an iPad. His double portrait Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) (1972) sold at Christie’s in November 2018 for $90.3 million, at the time an auction record for a work by a living artist, and Tate Britain mounted a major retrospective of his six-decade career in 2017 — which went on to become the most visited exhibition in the gallery’s history. Hockney died in London on June 11, 2026, at the age of 88.

Links: https://www.pacegallery.com/artists/david-hockney/
https://www.wallpaper.com/art/david-hockney-obituary
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/16/david-hockney-painting-sells-for-a-record-90-million.html
https://www.10news.com/obituaries/renowned-artist-david-hockney-master-of-color-and-joy-dies-at-88

Sources: Pace Gallery. "David Hockney." Accessed October 14, 2026. https://www.pacegallery.com/artists/david-hockney/.

Blythe, Finn. "David Hockney (1937–2026), the British Artist Who Truly Made a Bigger Splash." Wallpaper*. Accessed October 14, 2026. https://www.wallpaper.com/art/david-hockney-obituary.

CNBC. "David Hockney Painting Sells for a Record $90 Million." Accessed October 14, 2026. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/16/david-hockney-painting-sells-for-a-record-90-million.html.

Associated Press (via Scripps News Group). "Renowned Artist David Hockney, Master of Color and Joy, Dies at 88." Accessed October 14, 2026. https://www.10news.com/obituaries/renowned-artist-david-hockney-master-of-color-and-joy-dies-at-88.