12/06/2026
Today, we join the art world in mourning the loss of David Hockney, one of Britain’s most influential and beloved artists, who has died aged 88.
We were honoured to display David Hockney’s work on our gallery walls during Jane Bown: Play Shadow, where visitors encountered Jane Bown’s remarkable 1966 portrait of Hockney alongside his etchings The Princess in Her Tower (1969) and The Haunted Castle (1969).
Jane Bown asked Hockney to pose outside his front door, as she always favoured natural light. She was drawn to the bold graphic quality of his trademark round glasses and astrakhan coat, capturing the young artist with the quiet directness that became her signature.
Across more than six decades, Hockney transformed the way we see the world. Through painting, drawing, printmaking, photography and digital media, he remained endlessly inventive, curious and unmistakably himself. His work celebrated colour, light, friendship, landscape and the simple act of looking closely.
As we remember his extraordinary life and legacy, we are grateful to have shared a small part of his story within our gallery.
And perhaps this is how we like to remember him: through Jane Bown’s lens, looking directly back at us with the curiosity, intelligence and individuality that defined both the artist and the man.
David Hockney
1937–2026
