12 June 2026<\/time>\n <\/p>\nHarry Potter actor David Thewlis has paid tribute to the late David Hockney describing the artist as “a man who truly saw the beauty in everything”.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
David Hockney at the National Portrait Gallery in London in 2006<\/p>\n
The British artist, who hailed from Bradford, West Yorkshire, passed away at his home on Thursday (11.06.29), just weeks before his 89th birthday on July 9.<\/p>\n
Now, Thewlis, 63, has recalled a magical night he spent with the “kindest of souls” Hockney and late Career Girls actress Katrin Cartlidge at the artist’s home in the Hollywood Hills drinking wine and touring his studio.<\/p>\n
In a post on Instagram, Thewlis said: “One of the dearest memories of my whole life is of a night spent in the company of David Hockney. One of my great heroes. <\/p>\n
“It was 1993 and the late Katrin Cartlidge and I were in Los Angeles publicising our film Naked. David had heard we were in town and even though we were total strangers, invited us over to his house in the Hollywood hills. We got a bit lost looking for the exact address but realised we had finally arrived when we saw his famous painted pool through a hedge. We ate a wonderful meal of fish and rice and then he took us to see his studio. It was filled floor to ceiling with newly painted, madly colourful, opera sets. One of the most beautiful rooms I have ever seen. And so incredibly clean and ordered. The complete opposite of Francis Bacon. <\/p>\n
\n“Afterwards we relaxed in his den drinking wine, eating strawberry pie and watching an early copy of John Waters\u2019 Serial Mom that David had been given by John the night before. <\/p>\n
\n“He was the kindest of souls and treated Katrin and I so beautifully. I will never forget that night as long as I live. <\/p>\n
\n“I am therefore enormously sad to hear of his passing today. He was the last of the giants of that generation of artists. A man who truly saw the beauty in everything. Heaven\u2019s about to get brighter.”<\/p>\n
\nSince the news of Hockney’s passing numerous tributes have been made to the pop artist, whose works include Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) – which was once the most expensive painting by a living artist, having sold for $90.3 million at Christie’s auction house in New York City in 2018.<\/p>\n
\nNowhere Boy director Sam Taylor-Johnson recalled being neighbours with Hockney in LA and enjoying afternoon teas filled with laughter and cigarettes.<\/p>\n
\nShe posted on Instagram: “When I lived in Los Angeles, David Hockney and I shared a street as well as a gardener. One day he invited me over to have tea. I took my camera. He was generous, he chain smoked one off another and told the filthiest of jokes. It was one of my favorite afternoons.”<\/p>\n
\nBroadcaster Piers Morgan shared an affectionate tribute on X to his former Kensington neighbour, hailing Hockney as \u201cone of Britain\u2019s greatest ever artists\u201d and \u201ca Yorkshireman to his bootstraps”<\/p>\n
\nMorgan fondly recalled often seeing the artist on \u201clocal manoeuvres\u201d in the neighbourhood, describing him as a \u201cwonderful character”.<\/p>\n
\nTate Britain Director Alex Farquharson spoke on behalf of the gallery to acknowledge the passing of a true icon. <\/p>\n
\nIn a touching statement, Farquharson praised the creator’s enduring spirit, noting: “David was an endlessly inventive artist, with a unique vision of the world. He was always completely and courageously himself, both in his work and in life. He taught us about the joy of looking, seeing things the rest of us failed to notice.\u201d <\/p>\n
\nHockney’s death was confirmed in a statement which read: \u201cThe celebrated British artist David Hockney, one of the most important figures in contemporary art in both the 20th and 21st centuries, passed away peacefully at home on 11 June 2026, one month short of his 89th birthday.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe revolutionary artist worked in mediums including paint, photography and even iPads and turned his talents to etchings, lithographs and stained glass windows through his lengthy career.<\/p>\n
\nHe was born in 1937 and single-mindedly devoted to his art from a young age eventually winning a place at the Royal College of Art in London. However, despite being the establishment’s star student, he refused to write the one essay he needed to in order to graduate and so failed his finals, but a backlash forced the college to back down and he was given both his degree and its prestigious Gold Medal.<\/p>\n
\nHe left the UK for Los Angeles in 1964, where he swapped his oil paints in favour of bright acrylics, and made a name for himself with his swimming pool paintings, using his art to express his homosexuality, which was still illegal at the time.<\/p>\n
\nThe outspoken painter is believed to have rejected a knighthood on multiple occasions and declined an invitation to paint the late Queen Elizabeth’s portrait. However, he did accept the Order of Merit, the most prestigious award for high achievement, because he felt it ungrateful to decline what he thought was a personal gift from Queen Elizabeth II.<\/p>\n
\nA show is planned at the Tate Modern in 2027 to mark what would have been David’s 90th birthday.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"12 June 2026 Harry Potter actor David Thewlis has paid tribute to the late David Hockney describing the artist as “a man who truly saw the beauty in everything”. David Hockney at the National Portrait Gallery in London in 2006 The British artist, who hailed from Bradford, West Yorkshire, passed away at his home on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":245866,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[15633,15632,2140,9914,7105],"class_list":{"0":"post-245865","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-make-up","8":"tag-alex-farquharson","9":"tag-david-hockney","10":"tag-piers-morgan","11":"tag-sadiq-khan","12":"tag-sam-taylor-johnson"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245865\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}