British Pop Art Master David Hockney Dies at 88; Painting Once Set Auction Record of $90.3 Million

British contemporary artist David Hockney's publicist announced today that the Pop Art master passed away yesterday at the age of 88. Hockney was one of the most influential and significant figures in the contemporary art world, capturing the world with brilliant colors in his works.

As one of the leading artists of the 1960s Pop Art movement, Hockney established his status as a globally renowned painter and master draughtsman, persistently painting, experimenting, and exhibiting right up to the end of his life.

Hockney's publicist, Erica Bolton, stated that he passed away "peacefully" at his London residence yesterday. She praised him as "one of the most important figures in contemporary art of the 20th and 21st centuries."

In a statement, Bolton added: "Over a prolific career spanning seven decades, he excelled in the use of multi-media approaches to image making, intellectually exploring the nature of depiction and perspective, and consistently committing himself to celebrating and portraying the world around him."

Hockney was awarded the Order of the Companions of Honour by the UK in 1997. Earlier this year, he became one of the few non-French citizens to receive France's highest civilian honor, the legion d'honneur.

Following the news of Hockney's passing, tributes poured in from all over the world.

Art historian Richard Morris paid tribute on the social media platform X, writing: "His monumental achievement was to make serious painting look effortless."

"He was one of the post-war artists who most persistently and deeply explored vision, space, and the form of representation. The British art world has lost a giant."

The Centre Pompidou in Paris, which previously co-organized two landmark exhibitions with Hockney, praised him as "undoubtedly one of the heavyweights of contemporary art." They added that the works he left behind remain "dazzling, vivid, and timeless."

Born in West Yorkshire in northern England in 1937, Hockney attended the local Bradford School of Art before studying at the Royal College of Art in London, from which he graduated with distinction.

In 2018, Hockney's famous painting "Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)" sold for $90.3 million in New York, setting the highest auction record for a work by a living artist at the time.

According to his profile at the National Portrait Gallery, Hockney had been using the iPad since it was first launched in 2010, and he collaborated with developers to create customized applications for his art.