Why is Hockney's Art Important

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David Hockney died on 11 June 2026 (aged 88). I have to admit I am not a great fan of his art. I found the 'flat colour technique' rather gimmicky, but I do recognise that he is one of the most influential, versatile, and widely loved British artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. The range of his work is impressive: he spans painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, opera design, and digital art. Another one of his characteristics, like a lot of modern artists, was his consistent challenge to convention, embracing new technologies, and he celebrated the ordinary with freshness.

In the 1960s, when abstract art dominated the critical conversation, Hockney turned back to figurative painting with vivid colour, bold outlines, and a distinctive graphic style. Works such as A Bigger Splash (1967) and the series of paintings of Californian swimming pools captured the light, space, and hedonism of West Coast America,  while remaining unmistakably Hockney. He proved that representational art could have a modern take, with emotional resonance.

It is fair to say Hockney never rested on past success. In the 1980s, he experimented with photocollage with his "joiners":  fragmenting time and space in a way photography alone could not. In the late 2000s, he began drawing on iPads, creating luminous landscapes. I remember going to his exhibition at Tate Britain, and I have to admit being impressed, if not overwhelmed. He showed that an artist can be traditional in subject matter but could also use radical methods – it helped that he already had an established reputation.

After decades in California, Hockney returned to his native Yorkshire and produced a large body of work depicting the changing seasons of the East Riding. Large-scale, multi-canvas paintings such as The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire (2011). He did manage to capture the exuberance of nature with a depth of observation and a sense of joy and lightness that is rare in contemporary art. He reminded us that the English countryside, so often taken for granted, is a subject of enduring power.

It has been argued that Hockney's portraits of friends, family, and lovers (including Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)) are not formal commissions but intimate, often raw, explorations of character. He attempts to capture relationships, not just likeness. It has been said that few artists have painted their subjects with such affectionate honesty.

Hockney continued to produce new work well into his eighties. His 2020 exhibition at the Royal Academy, The Arrival of Spring, was created entirely on iPad and showed a 'lockdown landscape' of blooming trees and bright skies that offered a powerful antidote to pandemic gloom.

Therefore, we should value David Hockney because he is an influential artist who also happened to advance the democratisation of art. He showed that painting can be joyful, accessible, and brilliant. He refused to be confined by fashion, medium, or age, and he reminds us, in every work, that looking carefully at the world is an act of value. That is a lesson worth remembering.