At the age of 88, the famous British painter and pop art icon David Hockney has died

London – British painter David Hockney, who made significant contributions to the pop art movement of the 1960s and is considered one of the most influential British artists of our time, passed away in London on Thursday at the age of 88. This was reported today by news agencies citing his agent. Hockney's paintings of pools in Los Angeles, reflecting the Californian sun, have become icons of 20th-century art.

"The famous British artist David Hockney, one of the most significant figures in contemporary art of the 20th and 21st centuries, passed away peacefully at home on June 11, 2026, a month before his 89th birthday," said Erica Bolton, head of the agency representing the artist. "David Hockney's lasting legacy reflects his deep enthusiasm for life, exceptional sense of humor, immense generosity, and curiosity, encapsulated in his characteristic slogan: 'Love Life,'" she added in the press release.

Among those paying tribute to the artist today was British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. "The Prime Minister is saddened by the news of David Hockney's death, one of the most famous British artists," a spokesperson for Starmer told the BBC. "His fresh, instantly recognizable work has influenced entire generations of artists, and the Prime Minister is with his friends and family in spirit," Downing Street added.

British Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy called Hockney a "true titan of British art." "He was born and raised in Bradford, (but) his paintings have inspired people all over the world since his first exhibition in 1963," the minister stated on platform X. "His limitless creativity and restless spirit leave us a remarkable legacy," she concluded.

Hockney was born on July 9, 1937, in the northern English city of Bradford in a poor family, but spent a large part of his life in Southern California, where sunny landscapes became his main motif. His work from this period was inspired by the wealth and prosperity of colorful California, and he became famous, among other things, for his series of swimming pools and lawn sprinklers. "I spent the first twenty years of my life in the Gothic gloom of the north. Here I felt free," Hockney recounts in his biography, referring to life on the West Coast of the USA.

In later years, he returned to Europe, where he found new inspiration in the wooded hills of his native Yorkshire and in the fields and forests of Normandy, France.

He became one of the most popular British artists, and his works are sold at auctions for record prices. In November 2018, his painting titled Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) was sold in a New York auction for $90.3 million (today's equivalent of 1.9 billion CZK), making it the most expensive work by a living artist sold at auction at that time.

Despite his success, he remained humble, writes Reuters in his obituary. "I’m actually a lifelong student," Hockney says in the biography written by art critic Peter Adam. "I just happen to have quite a few credit cards in my pocket." When he accepted an invitation to the White House for dinner with President Ronald Reagan, Prince Charles, and Princess Diana in 1985, security checked him for half an hour because he was the only guest who arrived on foot, his biographer wrote.

"The popularity and timelessness of David Hockney's art, despite all its transformations and tirelessly inventive experiments, is really no mystery. His work is admired – 'loved' is not too strong a word – by millions of people around the world who are drawn to it because they see a promise of pleasure in it," wrote historian Simon Schama in an essay for Hockney's exhibition in Paris in 2025.

The London gallery Tate Britain announced today that it will continue to work with Hockney's team on the realization of two planned projects next year. At the same time, it recalled that the artist's retrospective in honor of his 80th birthday in 2017 was the most visited exhibition in the gallery's history.

"David was an artist of unlimited invention and a unique view of the world," Tate Britain's director Alex Farquharson wrote on Instagram. "He was always wholly and boldly himself, both in his art and in life. (...) The loss to the art world is enormous: With David's departure, an extraordinary artistic achievement comes to a close, characterized by continuous creative evolution," he added.