Regarded as a pop art superstar, the British painter was among the most influential artists globally during his lifetime.
David Hockney, one of Britain's most beloved artists, a worldwide celebrity, a global citizen, and a bohemian, "passed away peacefully at home" in London on Thursday, just a month before his 89th birthday, according to a statement from his publicist Erica Bolton to the press.
Recognized as a pivotal figure in contemporary art of both the 20th and 21st centuries, Hockney initially rose to prominence as a key contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s.
Always wanting 'to see more'
Born in Bradford in 1937, David Hockney was the fourth of five children. As a child, his favorite spot was sitting at the front on the upper deck of a double-decker bus. From there, he had the finest view of the city and its surroundings.
"I always wanted to see more," the artist remarked in "Hockney," the 2015 documentary film about him directed by Randall Wright.
Later in life, Hockney tirelessly photographed everything around him, capturing everyday scenes, sketches of friends, houses, passersby, and anything that caught his interest.
He also spent decades exploring digital tools for his art. He worked with fax machines and color copiers, used his iPhone as a sketchbook, and even painted directly on his iPad.
In 2018, the artist created a stained-glass window for Westminster Abbey, designing it on his iPad. He often sat with the device in the church hall, inspired by the interplay of light.
In 2022, he created a portrait of singer Harry Styles on the device, noting at the time that it was especially challenging since he preferred to depict friends. Hockney's engagement with new mediums and projects well into his old age was commendable.
"I'm always doing something else," Hockney told The Guardian in a 2022 interview. "Yeah. They can argue all they want about the past, but I just get on to something else."
A grounded star
Despite his iconic status, Hockney once said he considered himself a tireless worker.
He often woke at dawn because he found the early morning light so special. "I find it exciting to see how rain falls in a puddle and then to paint it," said the artist, who had a particular passion for landscape paintings. Hockney maintained his artistic curiosity and spirit of discovery until his death.
The artist created around 2,000 paintings, along with thousands of photos and sketches. He often used the latter as studies for larger paintings. The British painter also gained fame in the US, where he lived from the 1960s until he moved back near his hometown in England in 2000. He lived intermittently at his various residences in England and California.
Hockney was friends with many great artists, including Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg. Like the works of his contemporaries, Hockney's colorful acrylic pieces sold for high prices until his death.
In 2018, his "Portrait Of An Artist (Pool With Two Figures)" sold for $90.3 million (β¬89 million), which at that time was the highest price ever paid at auction for a painting by a living artist.
An anarchist with a sense of humor
In an interview with The Guardian, Hockney revealed his inner anarchist, using his characteristic sense of humor. At a meeting in a restaurant, he pulled out two crumpled cigarette butts from his pocket, which turned out to be sculptures from a gallery in Berlin.
A lifelong chain smoker, during the COVID pandemic, Hockney even claimed that smokers had developed immunity to the coronavirus. The artist had written a letter to The Daily Mail citing a study in China that had supposedly proven this.
Hockney smoked only Davidoffs, which are primarily sold in Germany and Switzerland. For the artist, smoking embodied the freedom of the 1960s.
Speaking to The Guardian, he said this period "was the freest time, probably ever." In the last years of his life, he said he realized that time was over.
But the prolific artist, who was celebrated with a major retrospective of his works in 2025 at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, always remained enthusiastic about life: "If you see the world as beautiful, thrilling and mysterious, as I think I do, then you feel quite alive."
This article was translated from German.