« 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.
Hockney's death marks the end of an era for figurative painting and British art. He was not only a commercial powerhouse—holding the record for the highest auction price for a living artist—but also a deeply influential figure who challenged abstraction, embraced new technologies from photocopiers to iPads, and openly depicted gay life decades before it was widely accepted. His lifelong inquiry into how to represent reality, from his photo-collage "Joiners" to his opera set designs, leaves a legacy of joyful, rigorous innovation that inspired generations of artists and art lovers worldwide.