One of the most influential photographers of the 20th Century, Robert Frank, (November 9, 1924 – September 9, 2019) has died at the age of 94. He never crossed over into celebrity. He’s famous because he made a mark. He collected the world – Nan Goldin Frank was born in Switzerland but emigrated to the United States […]
Post-script: This piece was initially intended as a review of the exhibition ‘Takis’Tate Modern. Sadly, since the time of writing the artist has passed away, on the morning of the 9th of August. This piece has subsequently been revised as something of a tribute to a singular figure of contemporary art.
The Franco-Venezuelan artist Carlos Cruz-Diez, born Caracas, 1923 has died in Paris where he lived and worked since 1960. Cruz-Diez was a major protagonist in the field of Kinetic and Optical art, a movement that encouraged “an awareness of the instability of reality.” His body of work established him as one of the critical twentieth-century thinkers in the realm of colour.
The world-renowned architect I M Pei, best known for his iconic design for the Louvre pyramid, has died aged 102.
Claude Lalanne best-known for her Surrealist inspired sculptures and Neo-Art-Nouveau bronze furniture and jewelry depicting flowers and playful animals has died in Fontainebleau, at the age of 93.
Okwui Enwezor the Nigerian curator, art critic, writer, poet, and educator has died of cancer age 55. He lived in New York City and Munich. In 2016, he was ranked 28 in the Artlyst Power100 most influential people in the art world, just one year after he was appointed the director the Venice Biennale. “He […]
Carolee Schneemann, multidisciplinary artist who transformed the definition of art, especially discourse on the body, sexuality, and gender has died age 79.
Lee Radziwill The socialite sister of Jackie Kennedy Onassis and friend to Pop Artist Andy Warhol has died age 85.
29 January 2019
The artist Susan Hiller has died age 78. Hiller will be remembered not only as a thinker and mentor, but as a powerful and unique voice in contemporary art over the last four decades. Her investigations and revelations of the hidden depths of human imagination found their expression in installation, film, painting, writing, sculpture and […]
Jonas Mekas, avant-garde filmmaker, curator and visual art influencer has died at his home in Brooklyn age 96.
The celebrated art historian and nun Sister Wendy Beckett has died at the age of 88, it has been announced. In the 1990s she became one of the most unlikely television stars, the BBC said on their website.
11 April 2018
Gillian Ayres was one of the leading British abstract painters of her generation has died age 88.
13 February 2018
Jef Geys (born Leopoldsburg, Belgium,1934) known for his installations, photography and conceptual work has died age 83.
Betty Woodman (b. 1930, Norwalk, Connecticut, USA) has died age 87 on 2 January.
27 December 2017
The artist Tim Rollins has died at age 62. He co-founded the Manhattan group Art Material in 1979 with Julie Ault and Félix González-Torres.
Dr. Martin Roth the former director of the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) has died age 62.
The British Photographer Khadija Saye has died age 24.She has officially been confirmed as a Victim of the Grenfell Tower Block Fire which has so far claimed nearly 50 lives.
4 May 2017
A. R. Penck, the German painter, printmaker, sculptor, and jazz drummer has died age 77.
2 March 2017
Gustav Metzger, (1926–2017) creator of “auto-destructive art,” has died in London age ninety.
17 February 2017
The artist Jannis Kounellis, who was best known for his association with the Arte Povera movement has died in Rome, aged 80. Born in Piraeus, Greece in 1936, favourite the age of 20 he moved to Rome and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, where he continued to live and work. His first solo exhibition in 1960 at La Tartaruga gallery exhibited 12 live horses. The work was recently recreated by New York’s Gavin Brown’s Enterprise in June 2015.
Lord Snowdon the Royal photographer who was married to Princess Margaret, sister of Queen Elizabeth II, from 1960 to 1978 has died age 87.
2 January 2017
The artist, critic, poet, and Booker prize-winning author John Berger has died age 90. Best known in art circles for his essay of art criticism, ‘Ways of Seeing’, it accompanied a popular BBC series and is still used as a university text. Berger was a novelist, painter, and poet. His novel G. won the 1972 Booker Prize.
Rainer Crone a highly respected university academic emeritus of Contemporary Art and History of Film at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich and a specialist in the art of Andy Warhol has died after a long illness, age 73. His death was confirmed by Martina Fischer at the Haus der Kunst Museum in Munich. Prof. Dr. Crone had previously taught at Yale University, the University of California, […]
Richard Smith the English painter and printmaker has died age 84. Smith was born in 1931 and grew up in Letchworth Garden City. He attended art school in Luton and St Albans before studying at the Royal College of Art from 1954 to 1957, where he was a precursor of the generation of Pop artists that included David Hockney, Allen […]
Jules Wright was one of London’s most daring and visionary commissioners of contemporary art and artists. She took a characteristically innovative approach to showcasing new talent at The Wapping Project which she launched in east London in 1993. The gallery space offered a unique urban venue that was defined by its independence. Born in Australia, Ms Wright came to the […]
Alan Bond the highly charismatic Australian businessman and art collector has died age 77. Bond, honoured as Australian of the Year after winning the America’s Cup yacht race in 1983, was convicted of four fraud charges surrounding the sale of Edouard Manet’s La Promenade. He was jailed for four years. His empire crumbled as a result and he was eventually bankrupted. In 1996 he […]
A. Alfred Taubman, the self-made billionaire/developer of the modern shopping centre, who was jailed for commission fixing and collusion with Christie’s, when he was Chairman of Sotheby’s Auctioneers, has died in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, age 91. Taubman was a college dropout who built a fortune building shopping malls across America. He bought the ailing, privately held Sotheby’s Auctioneers in 1983 for $124 million […]
Ger van Elk who died age 73 on 17 August was a highly regarded conceptual artist, both nationally as internationally, he continuously reviewed and reconsidered his own work, his personal, trivial, observations as well as art historical developments. Born in Amsterdam, in 1941 at the height of WWII, Van Elk spend many of his his […]
Robyn Denny (b.1930) the British abstract painter, printmaker, and designer has died age 84 .Denny was born in Abinger, Surrey, and after studying at Central St Martin’s School of Art he attended the Royal College of Art from 1951–7. He was among the young British painters influenced by the scale and energy of New York […]
The pioneering underground comix artist Manuel “Spain” Rodriguez has died, age 72. Born in Buffalo, NY, Rodriguez built his early cartooning career in New York where he contributed to The East Village Other. He was known for his ‘muscular, inky style’ which owed influences to EC Comics of Wally Wood. His years riding with biker […]
Franz West the innovative Austrian sculptor has died age 65. He was one of the best known contemporary artists living in Vienna, where he was born in 1947. West began his career in mid-1960s Vienna when a local movement called Actionism was in full swing. West’s earliest sculptures, performances, and collages were a reaction to […]