David Hockney dies at 88: The artist who put queer joy on canvas

David Hockney's art is synonymous with California: turquoise swimming pools, bright sunlight and houses so pristine they seem almost unreal.

But the paintings that made Hockney famous were doing something more ambitious than capturing good weather.

Following his death at 88, Hockney is being remembered as one of Britain's greatest artists, a painter whose influence stretched far beyond the art world. Long before queer representation became commonplace in film, television or advertising, Hockney was creating images of gay life that felt remarkably free. His subjects fell in love, shared homes, swam together and occupied space without apology.

That might not sound revolutionary today. In the Britain of the 1960s, it was.

Painting queer life without tragedy

When Hockney arrived at the Royal College of Art, homosexuality was still illegal in Britain. References to same-sex desire often had to be coded, hidden or explained away.

His early paintings reflected that reality. Works such as We Two Boys Together Clinging hinted at intimacy between men while drawing on literary references that many viewers would miss. Other works were playful and knowingly suggestive, revealing just enough to be understood by those who recognised the signals.

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What stands out now is how little interest Hockney seemed to have in presenting queer life as something dark or doomed.

His paintings contain desire, certainly, but they also contain friendship, affection and humour. Men brush their teeth, lounge by pools and spend time together. The scenes are often mundane, which is precisely what made them unusual.

At a time when gay men were frequently portrayed as outsiders or stereotypes, Hockney painted them as people.

The pools that became iconic

After moving to Los Angeles in 1964, Hockney found a landscape that would define his work. The city's swimming pools became a recurring subject, culminating in paintings such as A Bigger Splash and Portrait of an Artist (Pool With Two Figures).

These works are now so familiar that it can be difficult to see them as they once appeared.

The men in them are not merely decorative figures in a landscape. They are objects of attention and desire. Hockney placed them at the centre of his work and, by extension, at the centre of contemporary art.

The effect was subtle but significant. Rather than demanding visibility through slogans, Hockney achieved it through beauty.

More than a painter

Over a career that spanned more than six decades, Hockney constantly reinvented himself. He embraced photography, designed opera sets, experimented with video and became one of the most prominent artists to adopt digital drawing technologies.

Yet his greatest contribution may have been his ability to make people look differently at the world around them.

Today, his paintings hang in major museums and sell for extraordinary sums. They also appear on posters, calendars and coffee-table books. Few modern artists have managed to become both critically celebrated and genuinely popular.

That popularity rests on more than technical skill. Hockney offered viewers a vision of life that felt expansive, curious and full of pleasure. Looking at his work now, it is striking how often he chose joy.

For all the attention paid to the pools, that may be what endures most.