Iconic British Artist David Hockney Dies At 88

The British artist David Hockney has died at the age of 88, his publicist said.

“The celebrated British artist David Hockney, one of the most important figures in contemporary art in both the 20th and 21st centuries, passed away peacefully at home on 11 June 2026, one month short of his 89th birthday,” a statement said. No cause of death was immediately disclosed.

Hockney was regarded as one of Britain’s greatest living artists, and was best known for his painting A Bigger Splash from 1967 depicting a swimming pool in California.

What To Know

Born in Bradford, England, in 1937, Hockney emerged from the fringes of the Pop Art scene in the 1960s, before finding international fame after moving to Los Angeles.

The city’s bright sunlight, modern architecture and swimming pools became recurring subjects in some of his most celebrated works, including A Bigger Splash and Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures).

Over more than six decades, he worked across painting, drawing, photography, printmaking, stage design and digital media, often challenging conventional ideas about perspective and visual representation.

Art critics frequently described Hockney as a restless innovator. He experimented with photographic collages in the 1980s, later embraced fax machines and computer graphics, and became one of the first major artists to use iPhones and iPads as serious artistic tools.

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This story was originally published June 12, 2026 at 3:09 AM.