David Hockney, painter of luminous pools and landscapes, dies at 88

David Hockney, the British painter whose audacious colour and reinvention across six decades made him one of the most influential artists of the modern era, died Thursday, June 11, in London at age 88.

Hockney's career spanned from pop art icon of the 1960s to digital pioneer working on the iPad in his seventies. He mastered classical technique before embracing new technologies, leaving behind a body of work vibrant with colour—from the verdant landscapes of his native England to the turquoise pools of California that became his signature.

Born July 9, 1937, in Bradford to a modest family, Hockney confronted postwar England's prejudices early, recognizing his homosexuality and artistic ambitions while still young. An objector to military service like his father, he served as an infirmary nurse before entering the prestigious Royal College of Art in London in 1959.

His painting "Doll Boy"—a reference to his attraction to pop singer Cliff Richard—caught the eye of art dealer John Kasmin, who invited the shy, impoverished student to tea. "He had black hair cut in a crew cut, National Health Service glasses, was terribly timid and very poor," Kasmin recalled in 2013.

After graduating, Hockney exhibited at Kasmin's gallery and began building his name. He moved to California in 1964, painting the vivid, sun-drenched landscapes and pool scenes that propelled him to the forefront of pop art. His series of swimming pools—particularly "A Bigger Splash" (1967), an iconic image of sensuality and pleasure—entered the culture's collective imagination.

By the late 1960s, the timidity had vanished. "He was already a star, travelling the world, mixing with high society, staying in grand hotels," Kasmin mused. Yet Hockney resisted the hedonist label. "I'm a worker," he told the Guardian in 2015. "An artist can be favourable to hedonism, but he cannot be a hedonist himself."

He worked prolifically across media—paintings, drawings, theatre design, printmaking. He painted friends, family, lovers, and collectors, often in scenes of everyday life. His portraits captured both intimacy and distance, a duality that defined much of his vision.

Hockney became one of the most expensive living artists. In 2018, "Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)" sold for $90.3 million at auction in New York—then the highest price ever paid for a work by a living artist.

He continued innovating. In his seventies, he embraced digital tools, creating iPad paintings that rivalled the depth and fluency of his classical work. His final major exhibition, at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris in 2025, showcased his lifetime of restless invention. A man with famous round glasses and a mischievous wit, Hockney detested moral lecturing and remained curious, generous, and hungry to see what colour could do.

His legacy is a reminder that artistic vitality knows no age limit.