Pioneering gay artist David Hockney dies aged 88
Hockney is survived by his long-time partner, Jean-Pierre Gonçalves de Lima, who was by his side when he died
By Aaron Sugg
David Hockney, the pioneering British gay artist, has died aged 88, leaving behind a celebrated body of work that began in the 1960s.
The West Yorkshire-born artist, first recognised as a leading figure in the early pop art scene, died yesterday (11 June), his publicist confirmed to BBC News.
Born in Bradford in 1937 into what he called a “radical working-class family”, Hockney honed his craft at Bradford College and later the Royal College of Art in London.
David Hockney leaves behind his partner Jean-Pierre Gonçalves de Lima
He is survived by his long-time partner, Jean-Pierre Gonçalves de Lima, who was by his side when he died.
Hockney came out as gay at age 23, before homosexuality was decriminalised in Britain seven years later in 1967.
His early works openly depicted gay life at a time when homosexuality was still illegal in the UK.
Hockney’s first queer works
Through We Two Boys Together Clinging (1961), Hockney depicted gay desire, and in Cleaning Teeth, Early Evening (10pm) W11 (1962), he portrayed intimate sexual themes between two males in a 69 position.
He once described his early paintings as “homosexual propaganda”, reflecting how deliberately political and visible they were.
He once famously said: “What one must remember about some of these pictures is that they were partly propaganda of something that hadn’t been propagandised, especially among students, as a subject: homosexuality. I felt it should be done. Nobody else would use it as a subject because it was a part of me.”
Hockney made artist history with Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)
Hockney moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1960s, where his most iconic swimming pool paintings emerged.
He made history with Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) (1972), which sold for $90.3m (£67.27m) in 2018, a record for a living artist at the time.
Hockney relocated back to the UK in 2023 and had been living primarily in Marylebone, London, where he died.
Where can you see Hockney’s art?
His works are held in major museums worldwide, including Tate Britain in London (home to A Bigger Splash) and Salts Mill in Saltaire, Yorkshire.
Details of memorials will follow in upon release.