Dominic Elliott, left, and depicted, right, in a charcoal drawing by David Hockney (2013). Photograph: Composite
One of David Hockney’s assistants has died after being rushed to hospital from the artist’s home in Bridlington.
Dominic Elliott, 23, from the East Yorkshire town, was painted by Hockney on a number of occasions over the past five years. The most recent portrait, a charcoal sketch depicting Elliott’s shock of red hair neat and tamed, was completed in the last two months.
Elliott assisted Hockney on some of his video works and exhibitions and was employed as his driver, locals said.
Elliott was declared dead just after 6am on Sunday, shortly after arriving at Scarborough general hospital. He was driven there from Hockney’s seafront home after falling suddenly ill, Humberside police said.They said the death was not being treated as suspicious and there were no signs of violence. Postmortem results are expected on Tuesday afternoon.
On Monday Hockney said he did not want to comment, but denied rumours Elliott became unwell at a party at his house. “There was no party, I am in shock with this,” the artist said in a text message.
The 75 year old did not reply when asked whether he was at the property when Elliott fell ill.
A friend of Hockney’s said Elliott was “important” for the artist, having worked with him for a number of years. He helped to mount Hockney’s much-lauded show at the Royal Academy in London last year, the friend said.
Detectives are keen to establish whether Elliott, a keen hockey and rugby player, had taken drugs or any other harmful substance before his death, said a police spokeswoman. She added: “We are not speculating how this young man died until we get the results of the postmortem.”
By Monday evening no one had been formally interviewed by police, and no arrests had been made, the spokeswoman added. Hockney may be interviewed as officers try to piece together the circumstances surrounding Elliott’s death.
Local reports suggested Elliott had been drinking the night before he died, and had begun vomiting uncontrollably when Hockney’s partner, John Fitzherbert, decided to take him to hospital.
With his shock of ginger hair and jokey demeanour, Elliott was well known in the seaside resort and could often be seen waiting outside the railway station to meet Hockney’s train.
Adam Saltonstall, who played with Elliott in the first team at Driffield Hockey club, described him as a “fantastic guy” with “a heart of pure gold”.
In a statement on behalf of the club, Saltonstall, the first team captain, said: “He was a larger-than-life character with a heart of pure gold who made people smile by simply being around him.
“This horrific news has thoroughly rocked the club and left a huge Dom-shaped hole in everyone’s lives. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with his family and friends at this sad time.”
Carl Beevers, barman at the Bull and Sun pub, where Elliott was a regular, said: “He was a really nice guy. He was friendly, happy, he was always joking and smiling, He used to come into the pub two or three times a week with friends.”
He had never seen Elliott and Hockney socialising together, he added.
Tributes were also paid at Bridlington rugby club, where Elliott played in the first and second teams.
Chairman Gordon Morrice told the Bridlington Free Press: “Dominic was a valued member of our club, a good player with great potential. With his size and ability he could easily have established himself as a first team regular. He was a popular lad and had so many friends at the club.”
Nobody was available to speak at Hockney’s home in Bridlington on Monday afternoon.
The large, detached, red-brick house is in a residential area near the seafront of the coastal town, with views of the beach and sea. Hockney bought it decades ago for his late mother, Laura, who died in 1999. A few years ago he moved in, after returning to his native Yorkshire after a long spell living in Los Angeles.
The property is filled with Hockney works, including a copy of one of his most famous portraits, My Parents (1977), which depicts his father engrossed in a book while his mother looks boldly on.
Bridlington locals said the artist kept a low profile in the town. Last month Hockney snubbed council plans to grant him the freedom of the town, ignoring several approaches from East Riding of Yorkshire council. Proposals to change the name of a gallery to The David Hockney Gallery were also ditched when the 75-year-old failed to respond.
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