David Hockney, the prolific British contemporary artist, has died at 88.
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Hockney’s publicist, Erica Bolton, confirmed in a statement to NPR that the artist died at his home on June 11.
“David Hockney’s enduring legacy reflects his underlying enthusiasm for life, his outstanding sense of humor, his immense generosity, and his investigative curiosity encapsulated by his signature phrase,” Bolton said. “Love life.”
Bolton also noted that Hockney died one month shy of his 89th birthday. No other details of his death were provided.
Born in Yorkshire, England, Hockney attended the Bradford College of Art and the Royal College of Art. He graduated with a Gold Medal, quickly establishing himself as a leading talent among a new generation of British artists.
According to Deadline, in 2018, Hockney’s painting Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) sold for $90 million at Christie’s in New York City, breaking the record for the most expensive work by a living artist sold at auction. The previous record was held by Jeff Koons’s Balloon Dog (Orange), which sold for $58.4 million in 2013. Hockney held the title until 2019 when Koons’s Rabbit sold for over $91 million, also at Christie’s in New York.
“Paint the things you love,” Hockney reportedly said at the time of the massive sale.
After years of living in the United States and France, the artist returned to London in 2023. He was recently the subject of several large-scale retrospectives and received France’s Légion d’Honneur. Next year, Tate Britain will host a comprehensive survey of his work. In his later years, Hockney became best known for his vivid digital paintings, all rendered on his iPad.
He is survived by his long-time partner, Jean-Pierre Gonçalves de Lima.
