British painter David Hockney passes away at 88

Acclaimed British artist David Hockney has passed away at the age of 88, following a career that spanned more than seven decades, and spread across various mediums, often through the use of paint, photography, and even iPads.

He was one of the most influential contributors to the 1960s pop art movement, with his works displayed in museums around the world, including the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, Tate Britain in London, and the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris.

He was still making art in his later years, continuing to work up until the age of 87.

In 2018, his 1972 piece Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) sold at an auction in New York for over $90 million, setting a record for the most expensive work sold by a living artist at the time.

Hockney's 1972 painting, Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)

During his studies at the Royal College of Art in London, Hockney often did things his own way, making him one of the college’s star students. However, his refusal to write an essay required to complete his studies led him to fail his finals.

The college still awarded Hockney his degree, presenting him with its Gold Medal.

Many of his early works were influenced by his childhood in wartime Britain. Due to paper shortages, he learned to be resourceful, sketching directly on kitchen floors and in church hymn books.

Hockney’s father was strongly opposed to nuclear weapons and social injustice, instilling in his son a fierce independence that allowed him to tackle taboo subjects in his paintings, including queer relationships.

One of his famous paintings, titled We Two Boys Together Clinging, was named after a Walt Whitman poem and created six years before homosexuality was partially decriminalised in England and Wales. Hockney described it as one in a series of paintings which were a “propaganda of something” he felt “hadn’t been propagandised as a subject: homosexuality.”

In the 1980s, when the AIDS pandemic affected many of his friends, Hockney used painting as a way to keep his loved ones close by creating portraits of them.

Throughout his life, Hockney was awarded various honours, many of which he turned down. Some of the honours he accepted were reportedly opened and accepted on his behalf. However, he did accept the Order of Merit, awarded to him by Queen Elizabeth II, with pride.

Hockney’s family confirmed that he passed away peacefully at his home on 11 June 2026, one month before his 89th birthday.

MICAS mourns David Hockeny's passing

Locally, the Malta International Contemporary Art Space (MICAS) has joined the international arts community in mourning the passing of David Hockney. 

"His legacy holds particular significance for MICAS," it said.

Edith Devaney, MICAS Artistic Director, worked alongside Hockney over an extended period, curating major exhibitions at the Royal Academy before becoming Managing Director and Curator of the David Hockney Foundation and David Hockney Inc.

“Their collaboration was founded on a shared pursuit of artistic excellence and an enduring friendship,” said MICAS Executive Chairperson Phyllis Muscat.

Devaney spoke of his “absolute concentration, to the exclusion of everything else,” while recalling the remarkable fluidity with which he painted. “It’s fascinating to see the colour he’s picking up." 

Muscat reflected on how Hockney taught people how to simply ‘look’.

“As he once said, what an artist does for people is bring them closer to something. Indeed, art is about sharing an experience — a mission statement, if there ever was one, for an institution like MICAS,” Muscat concluded.