David Hockney obituary

David Hockney, the celebrated British artist known for his vibrant paintings of Los Angeles swimming pools and his distinctive use of acrylic paint, has died at the age of 88. The obituary traces his career from his early days at the Royal College of Art, where he was influenced by RB Kitaj, to his move to California in the 1960s, where he created iconic works such as "A Bigger Splash" (1967) and "Peter Getting Out of Nick's Pool" (1966). It highlights his fascination with the artificiality of Los Angeles and his technical shift to acrylics, which allowed for brighter colors and a flat surface texture ideal for depicting chlorinated pools.

David Hockney, Revolutionary and Beloved Painter, Dies at 88

David Hockney, the revolutionary British painter known for his vivid swimming pool scenes, portraits, and relentless experimentation across media, died on Thursday in London at age 88. His publicist Erica Bolton confirmed the news. Hockney worked until the end, leaving behind a seven-decade career that spanned acrylics, watercolors, photo collages, iPad drawings, and immersive installations, with major retrospectives at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris (2024) and a current show at Serpentine North in London.

Duane Michals, Maker of Enigmatic Sequences of Images That Defied Photography’s Conventions, Dies at 94

Duane Michals, the influential American photographer known for his sequential, narrative-driven images that challenged traditional photography, died on June 9 at age 94 in a Manhattan hospital. His death was confirmed by DC Moore Gallery, which represented him since 2013. Michals pioneered the use of multi-image sequences—often five to nine photographs—to tell enigmatic, often surreal stories, with works like "Death Comes to the Old Lady" (1969) and "Things Are Queer" (1973) exploring themes of mortality, time, and perception. He frequently hand-wrote titles on his prints, a practice born from his lack of formal photography training.

David Hockney, Master Painter of Modern Life, Dead at 88

British painter David Hockney, renowned for his vibrant depictions of 1960s and ’70s Los Angeles life, died in London on June 11 at age 88. His publicist Erica Bolton announced his death. Hockney rose to prominence in the 1960s by reviving figurative painting and the human form amid the era's abstraction, later embracing digital tools like the iPad and immersive art. His career included iconic works such as *A Bigger Splash* (1967) and *Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)* (1972), and he consistently depicted queer life, openly challenging censorship before homosexuality was decriminalized in England.

Duane Michals, Who Expanded Photography’s Boundaries With Élan, Dies at 94

Photographer Duane Michals, known for pushing fine-art photography's narrative potential by incorporating text and cinematic frame-by-frame sequences, died on Wednesday in Manhattan at age 94. Born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania in 1932, Michals began adding text to his images in 1974, challenging conventions like Henri Cartier-Bresson's "Decisive Moment." His career spanned commercial work for magazines like Esquire and Mademoiselle, album covers, and portraits of stars including Robin Williams and Tilda Swinton, alongside a parallel art practice that explored death, sexuality, dreams, and paternal love through sequenced photographs, paintings, and sculptures. His first solo show was at New York's Underground Gallery in 1963, and his breakthrough museum exhibition came at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1970.

Steven Adrian Stewart, Founder of Kansas Gallery, Dead at 46

Steven Adrian Stewart, founder of the Lower East Side's Kansas Gallery, has died at age 46. Stewart died on May 26 in Lawrence, Kansas, near where he grew up; no cause of death was provided. He founded Kansas Gallery in 2011, representing a roster of emerging artists including Michael Berryhill, Mira Dancy, Ethan Greenbaum, and Sylvan Lionni, before closing the space in 2016. After moving to Melbourne, Australia, he cofounded Futures Gallery in 2021 and later worked at Elizabeth Leach Gallery in Portland, Oregon. Stewart is survived by his wife, artist Jen Berean, and their two children.

Duane Michals, grand inventeur de récits et de mirages photographiques, est mort

Duane Michals, the American photographer known for his narrative sequences and hand-written texts, died on June 9 in New York at age 94. A self-taught artist, he rejected photojournalism's "decisive moment" and instead created photographic series that explored identity, desire, memory, time, death, and spirituality. His work is currently featured in the exhibition "Fragile Beauté. Photographies de la collection de Sir Elton John et David Furnish" at the Jeu de Paume in Paris.

Death of David Hockney: 12 works that tell the trajectory of a cult painter

Mort de David Hockney : 12 œuvres qui racontent la trajectoire d’un peintre culte

David Hockney died on June 11, 2026, at age 88. The article presents a slideshow of 12 iconic works spanning his career, from early portraits like *Portrait of My Father* (1955) to his famous California pool scenes such as *A Bigger Splash* (1967) and *Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)* (1972), as well as later iPad paintings and photocollages. The selection traces his evolution across mediums—oil, acrylic, photocollage, digital drawing—and themes including hedonism, English and Norman landscapes, and intimate personal reflections.

David Hockney est mort à l’âge de 88 ans. Retour sur une grande figure de l’histoire de l’art

David Hockney, the celebrated British painter known for his sun-drenched, experimental work, died on June 11, 2026, at his home in London at age 88. The article, published by Beaux Arts Magazine, offers a comprehensive retrospective of his life and career, highlighting his six-decade trajectory from California pool scenes to iPad drawings, his fascination with Old Masters and new technologies, and his recent years spent in Normandy. It includes biographical details, interviews, and coverage of major exhibitions, including a 2025 show at the Fondation Louis Vuitton and a retrospective at the Centre Pompidou.

Duane Michals, photographer known for sequenced works, 1932–2026

Duane Michals, the American photographer celebrated for his pioneering photo sequences and surreal, narrative-driven works, has died at age 94. His gallery, DC Moore Gallery, announced his passing. Born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, Michals began his photography career after a trip to the USSR in 1958, and his first solo exhibition was held in 1963 at New York's Underground Gallery. He became known for series such as *Empty New York* (1964) and *The Spirit Leaves the Body* (1968), moving away from single-frame street photography to create sequenced, dreamlike narratives. His work was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in 1970, and he remained active into his 90s, later incorporating handwritten text and video collaborations with Josiah Cuneo. Recent retrospectives include shows at the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Morgan Library, and Fundación MAPFRE.

The Most Expensive Works by David Hockney Sold at Auction

David Hockney, the celebrated British artist known for his vibrant Pop art and iconic swimming pool paintings, died on June 11 at age 88 at his home in London. The article lists his most expensive works sold at auction, including "Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)" which sold for $90.3 million at Christie's New York in 2018, "Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy" which sold for $44.4 million in November 2024, "Nichols Canyon" which sold for $41 million at Phillips New York in 2020, and "The Splash" which sold for £23.2 million at Sotheby's London in 2020.

The Art World Remembers David Hockney: ‘A True Lover of Life’

The art world mourns the loss of British painter David Hockney, who died peacefully at his home at age 88. A leader of the British Pop Art movement since the 1960s, Hockney was known for his vivid paintings, iPad drawings, and iconic personal style. Curators and artists who worked closely with him, including Chris Stephens, Stephanie Barron, Stuart Comer, Sam McKinnis, and Kojo Marfo, shared tributes highlighting his constant reinvention, joyful curiosity, and profound impact on contemporary art. At his death, Hockney held the auction record for the highest-valued living artist.

David Hockney, Painter Who Captured the Sensibility of ’60s Los Angeles, Is Dead at 88

David Hockney, the iconic British painter best known for his vibrant depictions of 1960s Los Angeles, has died at age 88. His publicist Erica Bolton confirmed he passed away peacefully at his home in London on Thursday, June 11, just one month before his 89th birthday. Over six decades, Hockney created a vast body of work spanning painting, drawing, and printmaking, capturing people and places from London to Normandy with a distinctive, unconcerned approach to contemporary trends. Tributes poured in from figures including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Tate Britain director Alex Farquharson, who praised Hockney's courage and joy in seeing the world anew. Tate Britain plans a major exhibition of his work next year, alongside a multimedia installation at Tate Modern.

David Hockney, an artist of brio and versatility, with global recognition beyond the art world, has died, aged 88

David Hockney, the celebrated British artist known for his vibrant paintings, prints, and set designs, has died at home at the age of 88. Born in Bradford in 1937, he rose to fame as a key figure in British Pop Art after studying at the Royal College of Art, and his career spanned over six decades, encompassing works that ranged from intimate portraits to large-scale landscapes, often incorporating innovative techniques like iPad drawing.

David Hockney – a life in pictures

David Hockney, the celebrated British artist known for iconic works such as *A Bigger Splash* and his vibrant landscapes, has died at the age of 88. The Guardian marks his passing with a photo essay tracing his life from his early days in Bradford to international fame, featuring images of his studio work, exhibitions at the Pompidou Centre and the Royal Academy, and his later years painting nature on vast canvases.

John Claridge obituary

John Claridge, a celebrated advertising photographer known for his iconic campaigns for Rolls-Royce, Porsche, and Jack Daniels, has died at age 81. His career spanned decades and earned multiple awards, but he is most revered for his black-and-white photographs of London's East End in the 1960s and 1970s, collected in the 2016 monograph "East End." Claridge's work is held in major institutions including the V&A, the National Portrait Gallery, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

David Hockney, giant of British art, 1937-2026

David Hockney, the towering figure of British painting whose career spanned six decades, has died. The artist studied at the Royal College of Art in 1959 and soon moved to Los Angeles, where he created iconic works such as *A Bigger Splash* (1967) and *Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)* (1972), the latter becoming the most expensive artwork by a living artist sold at auction in 2018. Hockney continually embraced new technology, from photo collage in the 1980s to iPad paintings in the 2000s, and maintained a prolific output of over 400 solo shows worldwide.

È morto Duane Michals, il fotografo che ha trasformato l’immagine in racconto

Duane Michals, the influential American photographer known for transforming photography into a narrative and poetic medium, died on June 9, 2026, at age 94 in New York. Born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, in 1932, Michals began his career as a freelance photographer for magazines like Esquire, Mademoiselle, and Vogue after a trip to the Soviet Union in 1958. He rejected the dominant photojournalistic tradition of the "decisive moment," instead developing sequenced images, double exposures, and handwritten texts that turned photographs into hybrid works of storytelling, philosophy, and autobiography. His work entered major collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and he participated in Documenta 6 in 1977. His archive is housed at the Carnegie Museum of Art.

Painter David Hockney, Who Made the Everyday Otherworldly, Dies at 88

David Hockney, the celebrated British painter known for his luminous California pool scenes and psychologically precise portraits, died on June 11 at his home in London at age 88. His career spanned six decades, encompassing painting, printmaking, photography, stage design, and digital art, with iconic works such as "Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)" (1972), which sold for $90.3 million in 2018. Hockney was also a pioneer of LGBTQ+ representation in art, openly depicting gay relationships and denouncing censorship of queer imagery.

David Hockney 1937 – 2026: Where to see the British artist’s work in London

David Hockney, the celebrated British artist known for his vibrant swimming pool paintings and landscapes, has died at age 88. The article provides a guide to viewing his work in London, highlighting his final exhibition "A Year in Normandie and Some Other Thoughts about Painting" at Serpentine North Gallery (on view until August 23, 2026), as well as his work at Tate Britain. It traces his career from his Yorkshire roots and Royal College of Art training through his transformative move to Los Angeles, his iconic pool paintings like "A Bigger Splash" and "Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)", his later digital experiments on iPad, and his immersive Lightroom show.

Rachel Nicholson obituary

Rachel Nicholson, an artist known for her richly colored and intensely still paintings, has died at the age of 91. Born in London as one of triplets to artists Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, she spent her childhood in Cornwall and later worked in secretarial roles before marrying medical scientist Michael Kidd. Nicholson only began painting in her 40s, shortly after her mother's death in 1975, initially creating still lifes of glass vessels and jugs—motifs her father and grandfather had used. She later expanded to landscapes and interior views, often of St Ives, and worked from her father's former studio in Hampstead. Her work was deeply personal, reinterpreting the artistic language of her family with a unique, intimate focus.

The Painter Who Saw the World Brighter

Der Maler, der die Welt heller sah

David Hockney, the celebrated British painter, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer, has died at the age of 88. Known for his vibrant use of color and precise observation, Hockney rose to prominence in the 1960s with works like "Doll Boy" and "A Bigger Splash," which blended personal desire, memory, and a distinctive pop sensibility. He studied at the Royal College of Art, where he challenged academic norms, and later lived in California, producing some of his most iconic pool paintings. His career included exhibitions at Documenta, a solo show at Kasmin's Gallery in New York, and teaching posts including at the Hochschule für bildende Künste in Hamburg.

Britischer Maler David Hockney gestorben

David Hockney, the influential British painter known for his vibrant pool scenes and relentless exploration of painting and new technologies, has died at the age of 88. Born in Bradford in 1937, he studied at the Royal College of Art in London and became a key figure in the British Pop Art movement. His career took him from London to Los Angeles, where he created iconic works such as "A Bigger Splash" (1967) and "Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)" (1972), the latter selling for $90.3 million at Christie's in 2018, briefly making him the most expensive living artist. Throughout his life, Hockney traveled widely, absorbing landscapes and light from around the world.

Eine andere Schönheit, die bleibt

Elfie Semotan, the internationally renowned Austrian photographer who began her career as a model, has died at the age of 84. The article recounts her life and work, including a 2024 visit to her exhibition "Inspiration Comes from Everyday Life" at the Austrian Cultural Forum New York, where her photographs were shown alongside designs by Nina Hollein. Semotan was born in Wels in 1941, studied at the Modeschule Hetzendorf in Vienna, and worked as a model in Paris before turning to photography in the late 1960s. Her images appeared in magazines such as Vogue, Elle, Esquire, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, and The New Yorker. She was married to artist Martin Kippenberger and moved between New York, Vienna, and a farmhouse in Jennersdorf, Austria.

Death of David Hockney

Décès de David Hockney

David Hockney, the influential British artist, has died, as announced on June 12. Born in Bradford in 1937, Hockney studied at the Bradford School of Art and the Royal College of Art, emerging as a key figure in British pop art in the early 1960s. His career defied easy categorization, spanning painting, photography, printmaking, and digital art on the iPhone and iPad. Known for iconic works like "A Bigger Splash" (1967) and "Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)", he explored themes of desire, friendship, and perception, often challenging traditional perspective through photocollages and composite images. In his later years, he focused on landscapes in Yorkshire and Normandy, culminating in the digital frieze "A Year in Normandie" shown at the Musée de l'Orangerie in 2021.

"The world is very, very beautiful if you take the time to look at it": David Hockney or the disappearance of a painter in love with life

« Le monde est très, très beau si l’on prend le temps de le regarder » : David Hockney ou la disparition d’un peintre amoureux de la vie

David Hockney, the iconic British painter known for his vibrant California pool scenes and relentless experimentation, has died at age 88 in London on June 11. The article traces his career from his birth in Bradford in 1937, through his studies at the Royal College of Art, to his breakthrough in 1960s Los Angeles where works like *A Bigger Splash* (1967) and *Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)* (1972) became emblems of 20th-century art. It notes that the latter sold for $90.3 million at Christie's in 2018, making Hockney the most expensive living artist at auction at that time.

Julio Le Parc, Father of Interactive Art, Dies at 97

Franco-Argentinian artist Julio Le Parc, a pioneer of kinetic and Op art whose interactive works presaged contemporary participatory art, died in Paris on May 30 at age 97. The last surviving cofounder of the Groupe de Recherche d’Art Visuel (GRAV), Le Parc spent nearly seven decades creating works that harnessed light, color, movement, and reflection, completed by viewer participation. He won the International Grand Prize for Painting at the 1966 Venice Biennale, was expelled from France for his protest involvement, and continued experimenting with virtual reality into his nineties.

Valentine Willie, 1954–2026

Valentine Willie, the influential Malaysian gallerist, collector, curator, and consultant, passed away on June 9, 2026, at his home in Kuala Lumpur after a long battle with cancer. He was 71. Born in 1954 in Sandakan, Sabah, Willie studied law at University College London before returning to Malaysia, where he eventually shifted from legal practice to the art world. In 1996, he founded Valentine Willie Fine Art (VWFA) in Kuala Lumpur, which became a pioneering force for Southeast Asian contemporary art, representing over 450 artists and organizing more than 300 exhibitions. He also opened galleries in Singapore, Bali, Yogyakarta (Jogja Contemporary), and Manila (Manila Contemporary), and helped introduce Southeast Asian art to international art fairs such as ARCO Madrid and Melbourne Art Fair.

Valentine Willie, Visionary Advocate of Southeast Asian Contemporary Art, Dies at 71

Valentine Willie, a lawyer-turned-curator and gallerist who championed Southeast Asian contemporary art, died on June 9 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at age 71. Born in Sabah, Borneo, in 1954, Willie studied law at University College London before returning to Malaysia in 1978 to practice corporate law for two decades. In 1996, he co-founded Valentine Willie Fine Art (VWFA) with Mee-Seen Loong, which expanded to Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines, mounting an average of 14 shows annually until its closure in 2013. Willie later served as founding creative director of Ilham Gallery until 2020 and was executive director of KRA Group at the time of his death.

David Hockney, the celebrated British painter who revolutionized the way of looking, has died

È morto David Hockney, il celebre pittore britannico che ha rivoluzionato il modo di guardare

David Hockney, the celebrated British painter who revolutionized the way we see, has died at age 88, just weeks before his 89th birthday. Over a career spanning more than 70 years, Hockney moved from iconic California swimming pools to Yorkshire landscapes and digital experiments on iPad and tablet, constantly reinventing his practice. Born in Bradford in 1937, he studied at the Bradford College of Art and the Royal College of Art in London, later moving to Los Angeles in the 1960s. His painting "Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)" sold at auction in 2018 for over $90 million, cementing his status as one of the most sought-after living artists. He also worked in theater set design, photography, and digital media, leaving a vast and influential body of work.