The Tate galleries have led the tributes to David Hockney, one of Britain's most important and influential artists of the modern era, following his death at the age of 88.

"We are greatly saddened by the news," said Tate Britain director Alex Farquharson, calling Hockney an "immensely important figure".

He is "widely regarded as one of the most successful and recognisable artists of our time", Farquharson added.

Hockney, whose most famous artworks included A Bigger Splash and My Parents, died peacefully at home, one month short of his 89th birthday.

• Follow reaction and tributes to David Hockney
• Obituary: Art's great innovator whose paintings made him a household name

The artist's career spanned seven decades, and he was known for using painting, printmaking, photography and latterly digital art to depict his native Yorkshire and his adopted home of California.

"David was an endlessly inventive artist, with a unique vision of the world," Farquharson said.

"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 – his witty and sharp observations a constant presence within his work and in person.

"The loss to the art world is immense: David's passing brings to a close an extraordinary body of work characterised by reinvention."

"He touched so many, with his astonishing talent, his love for art and life, and his profound and unconventional insights. His work continues to influence our culture, far beyond the art world."

The Pompidou Centre in Paris, with which Hockney collaborated for two landmark exhibitions, described him as "unquestionably one of the major figures of contemporary art".

It added that the works he leaves behind remain "dazzling, alive and eternal".

Art historian Richard Morris posted on X: "His huge achievement was to make serious painting look effortless.

"He carried forward one of the most sustained investigations into vision, space and representation by any post-war artist. British art has lost a giant."

A statement from Hockney's representatives said: "The 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."

It added that his "enduring legacy reflects his underlying enthusiasm for life, his outstanding sense of humour, his immense generosity, and his investigative curiosity encapsulated by his signature phrase: Love Life".

The Tate said they would continue to work with Hockney's team to stage two planned projects next year.

One is a major exhibition at Tate Britain, spanning seven decades of his work, and the other is a multimedia installation in Tate Modern's Turbine Hall bringing his celebrated designs for opera sets to life.

The statement added that Tate Britain's Hockney exhibition in 2017 was its most visited in the institution's history.

Hockney was born in Bradford and learned his craft by pushing a pram containing art materials around the city as he painted on the streets.

After training in at Bradford School of Art, he went on to study at the Royal College of Art, graduating with a gold medal distinction.

After moving to Los Angeles in 1964, his distinctive painting style highlighted life with his swimming pool series of paintings.

His most famous works also included the portrait Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy, of fashion designer Ossie Clark and textile designer Celia Birtwell, in 1971.

He also went on to produce stage designs for theatrical spaces including opera, and in 2024 backed a nationwide drawing project for Bradford's tenure as UK City of Culture 2025.

Last year he spoke to BBC culture editor Katie Razzall about his his biggest exhibition, at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris. When it was being planned two years earlier, he wasn't sure he would ever see it, he said.

"I just thought I probably wouldn't be here," he said at the time. "I'm still a smoker, a happy smoker fed up of bossy people telling you what to do."

The exhibition featured a gallery dedicated to his love of spring, after the artist, who lives in Normandy during the pandemic in 2020, used his iPad to paint the trees and flowers blooming as spring arrived.

He is survived by his long-time partner and companion Jean-Pierre Gonçalves de Lima, his great-nephew Richard – his studio assistant in his last years – his brothers Philip and John, plus his nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.