Te Papa's chief executive Courtney Johnston shared a tribute to the artist on Twitter, writing, "Saddened to hear that artist Billy Apple died early this morning.
"Moe mai rā e Billy - my thoughts are with Mary and all Billy's friends and family who are facing his loss during lockdown."
Apple recently had a major retrospective exhibition at the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, where his work is part of the permanent collection.
A book on his life and work written by Christina Barton was published in November 2020 by Auckland University Press.
With Auckland at alert level 4, a funeral won't be able to go ahead until the city moves to level 3.
Ten people are permitted to gather for a funeral or tangihanga at alert level 3. It's presumed a memorial will be held for Apple in due course.
