Only two people attended David Hockney\u2019s funeral last week \u2013 in line with the British artist\u2019s final wishes.<\/p>\n
The two mourners at the private ceremony were Hockney\u2019s 61-year-old partner, Jean-Pierre Gon\u00e7alves de Lima, and his 33-year-old great-nephew, Richard Hockney, a photographer who worked as the artist\u2019s assistant and frequently modelled for him. Both are trustees of the David Hockney Foundation, established by the artist in 2008.<\/p>\n
When the pioneering painter of The Splash died peacefully at his home on 11 June<\/a> aged 88, Keir Starmer and King Charles were among those who paid tribute to his \u201cvivid, instantly recognisable\u201d work and \u201cirrepressible charm, talent and constant innovation\u201d.<\/p>\n Although Hockney wanted his funeral to be an intimate ceremony, his publicist, Erica Bolton, announced that his life and work would be celebrated in a series of memorial services to be held in places he has lived around the world, including London and Yorkshire.<\/p>\n Bolton said: \u201cWe have been overwhelmed by your tributes which have meant so much to us and we wanted to thank you.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we have already received so many inquiries about David Hockney\u2019s funeral arrangements and memorials, we would like to clarify that it was David\u2019s clear wish that his funeral should be attended only by his partner, JP, and his great-nephew Richard, and that their privacy would be respected. The funeral has already taken place.<\/p>\n \u201cAlso in accordance with David\u2019s wishes, we are able to announce that the first memorial service to celebrate David\u2019s life and work will be held in London in spring 2027, followed at later dates by memorials in Yorkshire, Paris and Los Angeles.\u201d<\/p>\n She added that most of Hockney\u2019s works in his private collection would be given to foundations and public institutions around the world \u201cin furtherance of his legacy\u201d.<\/p>\n Hockney refused a knighthood in 1990 and he revealed why 13 years later, in a 2003 interview with his local newspaper, Bradford\u2019s Telegraph & Argus<\/a>. \u201cI do not care for a fuss,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t value prizes of any sort. I value my friends.\u201d<\/p>\n Hockney is thought to have created about 35,000 artworks throughout his six-decade career, including the Queen Elizabeth II window<\/a> at Westminster Abbey, where the memorial in London is likely to be held.<\/p>\n He donated about 8,000 works to his foundation which were collectively valued at more than \u00a31bn in 2024.<\/p>\n A free exhibition, David Hockney: A Year in Normandie and Some Other Thoughts About Painting<\/a>, runs until 23 August at the Serpentine in London.<\/p>\n Next year there will be two more exhibitions of Hockney\u2019s work, at Tate Britain and in the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern.<\/p>\n There was a surge in demand for the artist\u2019s work at Art<\/a> Basel last week, where buyers were given one of the first chances since his death to acquire his work in person.<\/p>\n