Marica Vilcek, art historian and co-founder of the Vilcek Foundation, has died at 89 in New York. She and her husband Jan, both immigrants from Czechoslovakia, established the foundation in 2000 to provide grants and prizes, primarily to immigrant artists, curators, and scientists, celebrating their contributions to American society.
Agosto Machado, a seminal performer, archivist, and fixture of New York’s downtown queer arts scene, has passed away. Known as a "keeper of secrets" and a vital connector within the avant-garde community, Machado was a muse to filmmaker Jack Smith and a lifelong friend to Warhol superstar Mario Montez. His life spanned the height of the East Village performance era, where he transitioned from a quiet observer to an essential participant in the preservation of underground history.
Christine Ruiz-Picasso, the daughter-in-law of Pablo Picasso and a pivotal figure in preserving his artistic legacy, has passed away at the age of 97 in Provence, France. Married to Picasso’s eldest son, Paul, she became a primary advocate for the artist's work following her husband's death in 1975. Her most significant achievement was the 2003 founding of the Museo Picasso Málaga, realized through her donation of over 200 artworks and her persistent collaboration with the Andalusian government.
Acclaimed painter Celeste Dupuy-Spencer has passed away at the age of 46 in Los Angeles, just days before a scheduled solo exhibition at Jeffrey Deitch’s gallery. Known for her visceral and politically charged figurative works, Dupuy-Spencer gained national recognition for her contributions to the 2017 Whitney Biennial and the 2018 Made in LA biennial. Her practice often deconstructed American mythologies, the rise of domestic fascism, and global human rights issues, including a high-profile stance against the conflict in Gaza.
Kunst als Versuchsanordnung
The influential Berlin-based artist and professor Thomas Zipp has passed away unexpectedly. Known for his immersive installations that blurred the lines between art, science, and madness, Zipp created complex "experimental setups" involving painting, sculpture, and performance. His work often explored dark parallel worlds, notably evidenced in his haunting 2013 Venice Biennale project that transformed a palazzo into a derelict psychiatric ward.
Pat Steir, the influential abstract painter celebrated for her large-scale "Waterfall" works created by pouring paint down the canvas, has died at the age of 87. Her death was confirmed by family and her gallery, Hauser & Wirth.
German artist Thomas Zipp, known for his dark, punk-infused explorations of history and science, has died at age 60. Throughout a career spanning painting, sculpture, and immersive scenographic installations, Zipp blended a Dadaist sensibility with a deep interest in politics, neuroscience, and the nuclear age. His work often challenged viewers with complex, opaque environments, such as his notable 2013 Venice Biennale installation that transformed a palazzo into a psychological sanatorium.
Thomas Zipp gestorben
The Berlin-based artist Thomas Zipp has died. His gallery, Barbara Thumm, announced the news on Saturday. Zipp, born in 1966, was a professor of painting and multimedia at the Berlin University of the Arts and was considered one of the most significant figures in German contemporary art since the 1990s. His work was shown internationally at venues including the Venice Biennale and museums in New York, London, and Zurich.
German artist Thomas Zipp, a prominent figure in the Berlin art scene known for his dark, immersive installations, has died at the age of 60. His longtime representative, Galerie Barbara Thumm, confirmed his passing on April 4th, noting that the artist died far too soon. Zipp gained international recognition for his multidisciplinary approach, blending painting, sculpture, and performance into theatrical environments that often felt like unsettling psychological experiments.
Chris Mullen, a distinguished educator and historian of art and design, has died at the age of 81. Throughout a career spanning over three decades at the Norwich School of Art and the University of Brighton, Mullen became a pivotal figure in integrating contextual studies with studio practice. He was renowned for his vast personal archive of printed ephemera and his digital project, "The Visual Telling of Stories," which served as a vital resource for generations of students and researchers.
The Guardian's obituary of architect Desmond Williams has highlighted a notable connection within the British architectural world. Williams, known for his ecclesiastical designs, studied at the University of Manchester School of Architecture alongside Donald Buttress, who eventually served as the surveyor of the fabric of Westminster Abbey.
Sculptor Lloyd Le Blanc has died at the age of 85. He was known for creating large-scale bronze works of flora and fauna and, with his wife Judith Holmes Drewry, established the Le Blanc Fine Art foundry and studios in Saxby, Leicestershire. Le Blanc was involved in every stage of his sculptures' creation and also cast works for other artists from his foundry.
È morto lo storico dell’arte Paolo Baldacci. Fondamentali i suoi studi su Giorgio de Chirico e sulla Metafisica
Renowned art historian, critic, and professor Paolo Baldacci has passed away in Milan at the age of 81. Originally a scholar of ancient history and Roman epigraphy, Baldacci transitioned into a leading authority on 20th-century Italian art, specifically focusing on Futurism and Metaphysical painting. He was widely recognized for his monumental 1997 monograph and catalogue raisonné on Giorgio de Chirico, as well as his extensive research into the work of Alberto Savinio.
Jean-Gabriel Peyre (1941-2026)
Jean-Gabriel Peyre, a distinguished French art dealer and expert in antique ceramics, passed away on March 27 at the age of 85. Originally a fashion professional who worked for Jacques Esterel, Peyre transitioned to the art world in the late 1960s, establishing himself as a preeminent specialist in European ceramics from the 16th to 18th centuries. Based in Paris and later Aix-en-Provence, he was particularly renowned for his expertise in French faience and his significant personal collection of Apt ceramics.
Architect Desmond Williams, known for designing modern Catholic churches, has died at age 93. His work, which includes four listed churches, was celebrated for its innovative integration of liturgical function, architectural ambition, and artistic collaboration, placing him among the leading figures of postwar British architecture.
Pearl Fryar, the visionary self-taught topiary artist who transformed his yard in Bishopville, South Carolina, into a world-renowned botanical masterpiece, has died at age 86. Starting in the 1980s with no formal training, Fryar used a gas-powered hedge trimmer to sculpt salvaged plants into gravity-defying, abstract geometric forms that drew thousands of international visitors to his three-acre property.
EL LEGADO PÚBLICO DE GONZALO DÍAZ
A collaborative research project, the Gonzalo Díaz Archive, was presented at the National Museum of Fine Arts in early 2025, focusing on the late artist's five-decade connection to the University of Chile. Just before his death in December 2025, Díaz publicly called for the university to safeguard a substantial part of his prolific work, and he was posthumously awarded the university's Rector Juvenal Hernández Jaque Medal. His widow, artist Nury González, will lead a funded project to transform his decades of preparatory notes and sketches into a new artist's book.
È morto il filantropo e mecenate Emmanuele Emanuele. Fautore a Roma degli spazi museali di Palazzo Sciarra e Palazzo Cipolla
Emmanuele Francesco Maria Emanuele, a prominent Italian philanthropist, jurist, and patron of the arts, has passed away in Rome at the age of 86. Born in Palermo, Emanuele dedicated the latter half of his life to cultural promotion, most notably serving as the President of Fondazione Roma and the Fondazione Terzo Pilastro – Internazionale. His leadership was instrumental in transforming Rome's Palazzo Sciarra and Palazzo Cipolla into significant museum spaces, hosting both permanent collections and major temporary exhibitions.
Thaddeus Mosley, the acclaimed American sculptor known for his monumental wood abstractions, has died at the age of 99 in Pittsburgh. Throughout a career spanning seven decades, Mosley transformed salvaged walnut, sycamore, and cherry wood into curvaceous, gravity-defying forms that balanced immense weight with a sense of lightness. Though he was a long-standing pillar of the Pittsburgh creative community, he achieved widespread national recognition and major museum representation only in his 90s.
Calvin Tomkins, the legendary New Yorker writer who chronicled the contemporary art world for over six decades, has died at the age of 100. Joining the magazine's staff in 1960, Tomkins became the preeminent profiler of his era, translating complex aesthetic shifts and avant-garde movements into accessible, witty, and insightful prose. His career-defining focus on art began unexpectedly in 1959 with a chance interview with Marcel Duchamp, sparking a lifelong fascination with the creative process.
Agosto Machado, a seminal figure in the Downtown New York art scene and a veteran of the Stonewall uprising, has died following a brief illness. Known as a 'pre-Stonewall street queen,' Machado transitioned from a community activist and archivist to a recognized artist whose intricate altar sculptures are currently featured in the 2024 Whitney Biennial. His work, which utilizes found objects and ephemera to create shrines for queer icons and AIDS victims, serves as a vital act of 'ancestor worship' and historical preservation for a community often marginalized by mainstream institutions.