Celebrated British artist David Hockney dies aged 88

The Tate galleries person led the tributes to David Hockney, 1 of Britain's astir important and influential artists of the modern era, pursuing his decease astatine the property of 88.

"We are greatly saddened by the news," said Tate Britain manager Alex Farquharson, calling Hockney an "immensely important figure".

He is "widely regarded arsenic 1 of the astir palmy and recognisable artists of our time", Farquharson added.

Hockney, whose astir celebrated artworks included A Bigger Splash and My Parents, died peacefully astatine home, 1 period abbreviated of his 89th birthday.

The artist's vocation spanned 7 decades, and helium was known for utilizing painting, printmaking, photography and latterly integer creation to picture his autochthonal Yorkshire and his adopted location of California.

"David was an endlessly inventive artist, with a unsocial imaginativeness of the world," Farquharson said.

"He was ever wholly and courageously himself, some successful his enactment and successful life. He taught america astir the joyousness of looking, seeing things the remainder of america failed to announcement - his witty and crisp observations a changeless beingness wrong his enactment and successful person.

"The nonaccomplishment to the creation satellite is immense: David's passing brings to a adjacent an bonzer assemblage of enactment characterised by reinvention."

"He touched truthful many, with his astonishing talent, his emotion for creation and life, and his profound and unconventional insights. His enactment continues to power our culture, acold beyond the creation world."

The Pompidou Centre successful Paris, with which Hockney collaborated for 2 landmark exhibitions, described him arsenic "unquestionably 1 of the large figures of modern art".

It added that the works helium leaves down stay "dazzling, live and eternal".

Art historiographer Richard Morris posted connected X: "His immense accomplishment was to marque superior coating look effortless.

"He carried guardant 1 of the astir sustained investigations into vision, abstraction and practice by immoderate post-war artist. British creation has mislaid a giant."

A connection from Hockney's representatives said: "The celebrated British creator David Hockney, 1 of the astir important figures successful modern creation successful some the 20th and 21st centuries, passed distant peacefully astatine location connected 11 June 2026, 1 period abbreviated of his 89th birthday."

It added that his "enduring bequest reflects his underlying enthusiasm for life, his outstanding consciousness of humour, his immense generosity, and his investigative curiosity encapsulated by his signature phrase: Love Life".

The Tate said they would proceed to enactment with Hockney's squad to signifier 2 planned projects adjacent year.

One is simply a large accumulation astatine Tate Britain, spanning 7 decades of his work, and the different is simply a multimedia installation successful Tate Modern's Turbine Hall bringing his celebrated designs for opera sets to life.

The connection added that Tate Britain's Hockney accumulation successful 2017 was its astir visited successful the institution's history.

Hockney was calved successful Bradford and learned his trade by pushing a pram containing creation materials astir the metropolis arsenic helium painted connected the streets.

After grooming successful astatine Bradford School of Art, helium went connected to survey astatine the Royal College of Art, graduating with a golden medal distinction.

After moving to Los Angeles successful 1964, his distinctive coating benignant highlighted beingness with his swimming excavation bid of paintings.

His astir celebrated works besides included the representation Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy, of manner decorator Ossie Clark and textile decorator Celia Birtwell, successful 1971.

He besides went connected to nutrient signifier designs for theatrical spaces including opera, and successful 2024 backed a nationwide drafting task for Bradford's tenure arsenic UK City of Culture 2025.

Last twelvemonth helium spoke to BBC civilization exertion Katie Razzall astir his his biggest exhibition, astatine the Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris. When it was being planned 2 years earlier, helium wasn't definite helium would ever spot it, helium said.

"I conscionable thought I astir apt wouldn't beryllium here," helium said astatine the time. "I'm inactive a smoker, a blessed smoker fed up of bossy radical telling you what to do."

The accumulation featured a assemblage dedicated to his emotion of spring, aft the artist, who lives successful Normandy during the pandemic successful 2020, utilized his iPad to overgarment the trees and flowers blooming arsenic outpouring arrived.

He is survived by his long-time spouse and companion Jean-Pierre Gonçalves de Lima, his great-nephew Richard - his workplace adjunct successful his past years - his brothers Philip and John, positive his nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.