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Renowned British Artist David Hockney Dies at 88

6/12/2026

Summary

Hockney Dies

British artist David Hockney died at his London home on Thursday, June 12 2026, aged 88.
His “Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)” sold for $90.3 million in 2018, a record.
A major retrospective opened at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris in April 2025, showing 220 digital works.
His Normandy iPad drawings will appear in “David Hockney: The Moon Room” at GRAY Chicago in July 2026.
He received the UK Companion of Honour in 1997 and France’s Legion d’honneur in 2026.
After a 2012 stroke and growing deafness, he said work kept him young in 2017.

Summary

Hockney Defends Smoking

In 2005 David Hockney campaigned to overturn the UK ban on smoking in pubs and restaurants, citing personal liberty.
At his 70th birthday in 2007, smoke alarms were switched off for about ten minutes so he could smoke.
He said smoking calms him and warned politicians against dictating personal pleasures.
As a youth he became a conscientious objector and served as a hospital orderly.

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Hockney Dies

British artist David Hockney died at his London home on Thursday, June 12 2026, aged 88.
His “Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)” sold for $90.3 million in 2018, a record.
A major retrospective opened at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris in April 2025, showing 220 digital works.
His Normandy iPad drawings will appear in “David Hockney: The Moon Room” at GRAY Chicago in July 2026.
He received the UK Companion of Honour in 1997 and France’s Legion d’honneur in 2026.
After a 2012 stroke and growing deafness, he said work kept him young in 2017.

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