David Hockney (1937-2026) - Part 1

David Hockney passed peacefully away at home yesterday (11th June 2026) - a month before his 89th birthday. His death was announced this morning

David Hockney Self Portrait, March 14 2012,

iPad drawing printed on paper Exhibition Proof 37 x 28"

© David Hockney

I'm going to write something rather more considered about him (Part 2) - probably on Sunday. But what wanted to record his passing today.

Oddly, the last time I saw him recently on film, I remember thinking I must get an obituary organised. He was looking very diminished and frail.....

I've written about David Hockney on a number of occasions on this blog. You can READ my posts BELOW. I usually organise them by years - but this time they're organised by topic

Those in 2006 and 2016 contain references to his artwork about the Yorkshire landscape. I will never ever forget his major exhibition of paintings of the Yorkshire landscape at the Royal Academy of Art called - which I will never ever forget

Below this I've also listed links to some of the tributes in the media. What you're getting today is the pre-drafted. It's probable some better tributes will emerge at the weekend

Biography

• 2009: Review: David Hockney - A Bigger Picture - about Bruno Wollheim's film David Hockney - A Bigger Picture
• 2016: A biography of Hockney on iPlayer first shown by the BBC in 2015 (and repeated in 2016)

Drawing

• 2009: David Hockney: Fifteen Sketchbooks 2002-2003 - Update on DVD availability
• 2006: David Hockney and Shirley - sharing art and sketchbooks - about the David Hockney Portraits exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery and his Fifteen Sketchbooks completed in 2002-3003
• 2009: David Hockney "15 sketchbooks" DVD - a further update
• 2019-20: David Hockney: Drawing from Life (2020) at the National Portrait Gallery (May 2019)

Exhibitions

• 2008-2009: David Hockney - recent exhibitions

Landscapes

Woldgate Woods, 21, 23 & 29 November 2006, 2006 by David Hockney
Oil on 6 canvases, 182 x 366 cm
Courtesy of the Artist | Copyright David Hockney | Photo credit: Richard Schmidt

• 2012: Review: David Hockney RA - A Bigger Picture
• 15th January 2012 - Who's made a mark this week? This has a lot of references to the publicity overdrive for the A Bigger Picture exhibition at the RA and includes references to interesting articles
• 2014: The Arrival of Spring - David Hockney's latest exhibition - 85% of the digital drawings in The Arrival of Spring had been sold before this exhibition opened at Annely Juda Fine Art.
• 2014: Hockney is bigger than Van Gogh!- about my final and fourth visit to A Bigger Picture on the final night

David Hockney RA - The Bigger Picture
Giant Exhibition Banner
hanging above the main entrance to Burlington House

I can't help thinking that David Hockney is now painting his roots (no pun intended) - in oil and in digital media - and for posterity. 

He's of an age when one never knows just how long the ability to paint plein air will last. 

This particular exhibition have me the impression that he now wants to create a body of work about Yorkshire in a variety of media - watercolour, oil and now digital artwork based on photographs.

Portraits

• 2007: Drawing, tea and DVDs at the National Portrait Gallery
• 2012: David Hockney on sitting for Lucian Freud
• 2020: David Hockney: Drawing from Life (2020) at the National Portrait Gallery
• 2023: Portraits of Dogs: From Gainsborough to Hockney
  
  

Printmaker

Entrance to the Hockney, Printmaker exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery

• 2014: Hockney, Printmaker (Review #2) - The Etchings - about Hockney Printmaker at Dulwich Picture Gallery

Stained Glass

• 2018: Hockney adds another way of making art to his portfolio - about the window to celebrate the late Queen's reign in Westminster Abbey

Watercolour

David Hockney doesn't call 'acrylic paint' watercolour! He reserves this term for 'proper watercolour paints'.

David Hockney Midsummer: East Yorkshire 2004 (watercolours)

• 2007 - Turner Watercolours with Hockney and Shirley - about Hockney's curation of BP Summer Exhibition: Hockney on Turner Watercolours (11 June 2007 – 3 February 2008).
• 2017: About David Hockney and Watercolour

Media

Lightshow Extravaganzas

• 2023: Reasons not to see David Hockney: Bigger & Closer

Media

• 2018: Back stories to exhibitions and activities at the RA - includes reference to "Great Art: David Hockney at the Royal Academy of Arts (ITV)"

• Review: David Hockney RA - A Bigger Picture
• 22nd January 2012 - Who's made a mark this week? "This post this week has rather a slant towards Hockney, digital art on an iPad and pastels - which pretty much reflects my week."
• 15th January 2012 - Who's made a mark this week? This has a lot of references to the publicity overdrive for the A Bigger Picture exhibition at the RA and includes references to interesting articles
• 2009 
• David Hockney - recent exhibitions - about various recent exhibitions in various countries
• Review: David Hockney - A Bigger Picture - about Bruno Wollheim's film David Hockney - A Bigger Picture
• David Hockney "15 sketchbooks" DVD - a further update
• 2007
• Turner Watercolours with Hockney and Shirley - about Hockney's curation of BP Summer Exhibition: Hockney on Turner Watercolours (11 June 2007 – 3 February 2008).
• Drawing, tea and DVDs at the National Portrait Gallery - another long slow look at the at the David Hockney Portraits exhibition before it closed
• 2006


• David Hockney and Shirley - sharing art and sketchbooks - about the David Hockney Portraits exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery and his Fifteen Sketchbooks completed in 2002-3003
• Two London exhibitions for David Hockney about "David Hockney Portraits - Life Love Art" at the NPG and "A Year in Yorkshire" in at the Annely Juda Gallery

Obituaries

Broadsheets

It's at times like this you lament the passing of the great art journalists

• David Hockney obituary: giant of British art | The Times - Painter from Yorkshire whose work was enduringly popular, instantly recognisable and at times record-breakingly sought-after, dies ‘peacefully at home’ aged 88
• David Hockney, revolutionary British artist, dies aged 88 | The Guardian 
• David Hockney death latest | The Independent - Keir Starmer and Amol Rajan lead tributes after iconic English artist dies aged 88

Television

• David Hockney: Art's great innovator whose vivid paintings made him a household name | BBC
• Tributes paid to David Hockney, a 'giant' and 'true icon' of British art | BBC
• David Hockney latest: Artist and 'true icon' dies aged 88 | Sky News -