At 88, David Hockney has died, but one of his earliest paintings still tells a story of defiance: a couple wrapped in an embrace, painted in 1961, when homosexuality was illegal in the UK. That work, ‘We Two Boys Together Clinging’, inspired by a Walt Whitman poem, was created while Hockney was a second-year student at the Royal College of Art. It was a radical statement in a country where sex between men would remain a crime for another six years, until the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967. Hockney went on to become one of Britain’s most celebrated artists, and his unashamed, joyful depictions of same-sex relationships helped normalise gay life in the public eye.
Hockney’s early work was spiky and expressive, rendered in bold lines and block colours, reminiscent of graffiti. Dominic James Bilton, co-leader of the Queer British Art Network, describes Hockney as “really pioneering as somebody who was unashamedly proud of his queerness before the legalisation of homosexuality”. At a time when “not a lot of people were doing that”, Hockney “showed and made work on same-sex relationships and desire and sexuality”. His subject matter was often the quiet, everyday moments of gay domestic life, such as 1963’s ‘Domestic Scene, Los Angeles’, which shows one man washing another’s back, or 1966’s ‘Peter Getting Out of Nick’s Pool’, featuring a nude man climbing from a swimming pool. Bilton notes that these works are “so queer, so sensual and sexy and playful and joyous”, and also depict the “domesticity” and “dull aspects of gay relationships”, helping to “normalise same-sex relationships… that we take for granted”.
“David Hockney’s art normalised gay love in the UK, from his early paintings to his later iPad works.”
Later in his career, Hockney embraced new technology, creating vivid iPad paintings. In 2020, during the pandemic, he made 130 iPad paintings of views near his home in Normandy, which were displayed at the Serpentine Gallery in London in an exhibition titled ‘A Year in Normandie’. The installation, designed to run around the walls in a continuous strip, was described by one critic as “the most visually seductive exhibition installation of the year”. The paintings trace the seasons from winter snow to spring blossoms, summer colours and autumn rain, and back to winter. Some critics dismissed them as “pretty” and “inane”, but the public response was overwhelmingly positive. “It’s the usual David Hockney because he always brings joy,” one visitor said. “The first time I left happy, the second time I left very happy,” another added.
For UK readers, Hockney’s life and work matter because they represent a cultural shift in attitudes towards homosexuality. When he painted men in love, it was a criminal act; by the time of his death, same-sex marriage had been legal for over a decade. His art is a record of that journey, and his influence is felt in the way LGBTQ+ stories are now told openly. His later iPad works, meanwhile, show an artist still experimenting and delighting audiences, proving that beauty and joy remain powerful in art.
Q: Why was David Hockney’s early gay-themed art so significant? A: Hockney painted same-sex relationships openly in the early 1960s, when homosexuality was illegal in the UK. His work showed gay couples in loving, domestic moments, helping to normalise gay life at a time when it was still taboo and criminalised.
Q: What was David Hockney’s ‘A Year in Normandie’ exhibition? A: It was a 2026 exhibition at London’s Serpentine Gallery, featuring 130 iPad paintings Hockney made during the 2020 lockdown. The works depict the changing seasons near his home in Normandy, arranged in a continuous strip around the gallery walls.
Q: How did the law on homosexuality change in the UK? A: Homosexuality was partially decriminalised in 1967, allowing sex between two men aged over 21 “in private”. Full legal equality, including same-sex marriage, came much later, in 2014.
What happens next: Hockney’s legacy will continue to be celebrated. His ‘A Year in Normandie’ exhibition is still on show in London. Tributes have poured in, including from Paul McCartney, who praised the “clever and witty” artist. Scholars and fans will likely revisit his role in LGBTQ+ history, and his works will remain in major collections such as Tate Britain, which previously held a retrospective of his art.