Britain's best-known artist low-key funeral: just two mourners
The funeral of David Hockney, Britain's best-known artist, has already taken place last week, his publicist Erica Bolton has confirmed. Only two people attended – in line with the British artist’s final wishes.
The artist had requested only his partner, 61-year-old Jean-Pierre Gonçalves de Lima, and his 33-year-old great-nephew, Richard Hockney, a photographer who worked as the artist’s assistant. Memorial services planned in places he lived
The 88-year-old Hockney died at his home in London earlier this month. A series of memorial services for the painter are set to take place next year, with the first being held in London in the spring. Next in Los Angeles and Paris, both cities David Hockney called home at different times in his life, and Yorkshire - where the artist was born on July,9,1937.
It has also been confirmed that most of Hockney's works will now be given to foundations and public institutions around the world to preserve his legacy.
A defining figure of the pop art movement in the 1960s, Hockney maintained huge popularity over his seven-decade career. In 2018 Portrait of an Artist (Pool With Two Figures, 1972) sold for nearly £70m at auction - a record for a living artist.
Following Hockney's death, King Charles and Queen Camilla had been "greatly saddened" to learn of the death of "a giant of the world of art and painting, a Yorkshireman through and through, and a dear friend and inspiration to so many".