David Hockney, the artist from Bradford who rose to international fame with paintings such as A Bigger Splash, has died aged 88. In later years he celebrated nature on vast canvasses.
Early Life and Career
Hockney in a studio with some of his work, circa 1967. He was known for his distinctive style and use of color. Hockney working in a studio, circa 1967. He photographed in 1966 by Jane Bown.
Major Works
A Bigger Splash, a 1973 biographical documentary film about David Hockney’s lingering breakup with his then partner Peter Schlesinger, directed by Jack Hazan. Hockney in the set of The Rake’s Progress which he designed for the Glyndebourne festival, 1975. Hockney takes a picture of photographer Martyn Goddard while working on the set of the Magic Flute for Glyndebourne, 1978.
Later Years
Hockney in his St-Germain studio, Paris, France, 1979. Partially visible behind him a version of his painting, My Parents and Myself, depicting Laura and Kenneth Hockney, though Hockney himself is not seen in this version. The final version of the painting, completed in 1977, was My Parents. The Artist’s Eye exhibition at The National Gallery, 1981. Hockney sits on a chaise longue in his home, Los Angeles, 1987. In Bradford, 1991. Hockney aged 62 in front of his A Closer Grand Canyon (1998), after a press conference to announce an exhibition of his work at the Pompidou Centre in Paris, 1999.
Exhibitions and Recognition
Hockney pauses in front of The Grand Canyon Looking North II, September 1982, part of the David Hockney Photoworks Retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 2001. Hockney and Allen Jones at the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition, 2004. Having a cigarette during the annual Labour party conference in Brighton, 2005. As a pro-smoking campaigner, Hockney spoke at a fringe meeting and attacked the government’s plan to ban smoking in most public places. Hockney stands in front of his painting Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy (1970-71), with Celia Birtwell, who modelled for the picture, at the National Portrait Gallery in London, 2006. Hockney unveils his painting Bigger Trees Near Warter (2007), the largest painting ever shown at the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition, 2009.
Recent Projects
Theatre director John Cox and David Hockney in the garden at Glyndebourne, 2010. Hockney at the launch of his A Bigger Picture exhibition at the Royal Academy in 2012. Posing in front of Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011. Hockney photographed at his Los Angeles home in October 2014. Hockney photographed at his home in London, May 2015. Hockney in the Sackler Wing at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, for his 2016 exhibition David Hockney RA: 82 Portraits and 1 Still-life. Hockney designed The Queen’s Window, a stained glass window at Westminster Abbey, unveiled in 2018. A 2021 video work by David Hockney titled Remember you cannot look at the sun or death for very long is shown in London’s Piccadilly Circus. Created on the artist’s iPad, the work coincided with the release of his book Spring Cannot Be Cancelled and his Royal Academy exhibition The Arrival of Spring, Normandy, 2020. Hockney poses at the Orangerie museum in Paris, October 2021, in front of his painting A Year in Normandie, a 90m-long artwork painted during lockdown in 2020. Hockney made a hundred drawings on his iPad in a matter of weeks and captured the effects of light and climate change during the four seasons. Hockney talks with attendees during a lunch for Members of the Order of Merit at Buckingham Palace in November 2022. The award recognises individuals deemed to have been of exceptional distinction in the arts, learning, sciences and other areas such as public service. David Hockney at the installation of his immersive work David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away) showing the Gregory Swimming sequence, in 2023. A Year in Normandie features iPad works with which Hockney brought people comfort during the Covid crisis. David Hockney: A Year in Normandie – featuring the 90m Normandy nature frieze, is at Serpentine North until 23 August 2026.
