joel shapiro icons 2025

Joel Shapiro, the acclaimed American sculptor known for his abstract wooden and bronze figures, died June 14 at age 83. In the weeks before his death, he gave a career-spanning interview to Max Norman for ARTnews, reflecting on his legacy. The article describes Shapiro's final New York show at Pace Gallery in fall 2024, which featured large works like "Splay" (2024), "Wave" (2024), and his largest wooden sculpture "ARK" (2020/2023–24), alongside small models and bronzes. It also offers a glimpse into his Long Island City studio, where he constantly experimented with form, material, and scale.

joel shapiro sculptor dead

Joel Shapiro, the acclaimed Post-Minimalist sculptor known for his playful yet conceptually rigorous works in bronze, aluminum, and wood, died on Saturday at age 83 due to acute myeloid leukemia. His death was announced by Pace Gallery. Shapiro's career spanned decades, with his work appearing at major institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the United States Holocaust Museum. He began at Paula Cooper Gallery in the 1970s, creating tiny cast-iron houses and chairs that subverted Minimalist monumentality, before evolving toward large-scale figural sculptures made from beams of metal. His 2024 exhibition at Pace Gallery in New York featured towering works, though he resisted calling them colossal.

john p axelrod dead collector

John P. Axelrod, a prominent art collector and retired lawyer, was killed in a hit-and-run incident on January 3 in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood while walking his dog. The suspect, William Haney, 42, allegedly drove onto a pedestrian mall and struck Axelrod before fleeing; he has been charged with murder and animal cruelty. Axelrod, 79, was a longtime collector of American painting, African American and Latin American art, and decorative arts, and was listed on the ARTnews Top 200 Collectors list from 1997 to 2000.

ashley stewart rodder dead gagosian director

Ashley Stewart Rödder, a highly respected director at Gagosian, has passed away at the age of 42 following a prolonged illness. During her tenure at the gallery since 2019, she was instrumental in managing the careers of prominent contemporary artists including Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Stanley Whitney, Titus Kaphar, and Deana Lawson. Her career also included significant leadership roles at Salon 94 and David Zwirner, as well as board positions at the nonprofit Performa and the Children’s Art Guild.

Remembering Pearl Fryar, Siri Aurdal, and Frank Stack

The art world mourns the loss of several influential figures, including self-taught topiary artist Pearl Fryar, who transformed a South Carolina cornfield into a botanical landmark, and painter Celeste Dupuy-Spencer, known for her politically charged works featured in the Whitney Biennial. The week's memorials also include Norwegian sculptor Siri Aurdal, a pioneer of industrial materials in the 1960s Scandinavian scene, and Frank Stack, the educator and cartoonist credited with creating the first underground comic.

Post-Minimalist sculptor Joel Shapiro has died, aged 83

Post-Minimalist sculptor Joel Shapiro died on 14 June in Manhattan at age 83 from acute myeloid leukemia. Best known for vibrant, humanoid sculptures built from wooden beams that balance abstraction and figuration, Shapiro completed over 30 public commissions, including *Loss and Regeneration* (1993) at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. His career began with fingerprint drawings that caught gallerist Paula Cooper's attention, leading to a 1982 mid-career retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art. He later showed at Pace Gallery and other major venues, with his most recent solo exhibition at Pace in New York in September 2024.

michael h smith dealer curator artist dead

Michael H. Smith, an artist, dealer, and curator who played a pivotal role in developing Southern California's art scene in the 1970s and '80s, died on October 31 in Santa Barbara at age 80. Smith opened his eponymous gallery in Los Angeles in 1971, later became a partner at the Jack Glenn Gallery, and served as director of the Baxter Art Gallery at Caltech from 1977 to 1982, where he staged exhibitions for artists including Hans Haacke, Richard Tuttle, and Berenice Abbott. He also founded a consultancy for artists, taught at UC Irvine, and worked as a conceptual photographer whose works were exhibited by dealer Craig Krull.

Remembering Nathan Farb, Thomas Zipp, and Christine Ruiz-Picasso

The art world mourns the loss of several influential figures, including photographer Nathan Farb, known for his large-format captures of the Adirondacks and 1960s Manhattan, and Christine Ruiz-Picasso, who was instrumental in establishing the Museo Picasso Málaga. Other notable passing include German interdisciplinary artist Thomas Zipp, prolific art forger William "Billy The Brush" Mumford, and Hassen Soufy, the last living member of the L'École de Tunis movement.

Allen Rosenbaum, former director of Princeton University Art Museum with a keen curatorial eye and astute administrative foresight, dies at 88

Allen Rosenbaum, the former director of the Princeton University Art Museum who led the institution from 1980 to 1999, died on August 3, 2025, at Calvary Hospital in New York City at age 88. Rosenbaum joined Princeton in 1974 as assistant director under Peter Bunnell, and during his 25-year tenure as director, he significantly expanded the museum's collections, adding major works such as Giulio Cesare Procaccini's "The Martyrdom of Saint Justina," Pinturicchio's "Saint Bartholomew," and Pietro da Cortona's "Saint Martina Refuses to Adore the Idols." He also oversaw the 1989 opening of the Mitchell Wolfson Jr. Wing, which added 27,000 square feet of exhibition space.

l artist dead

L, an artist known for spiritually charged sculptures and paintings, has died at age 41 or 42. Their passing was announced by galleries that represented them, though a cause of death was not confirmed. Born Jason Metcalf in Salt Lake City, L created works using objects suspended in mineral oil, which they called "spells," and exhibited at major institutions including Documenta and the Getty Center, as well as galleries such as Marlborough Gallery, 56 Henry, and the Ranch. L was also a spiritual practitioner and neurodivergent, and their career included early performances like "Original Skin" and a notable 2015 show at the LA alternative space JOAN.

Mark Gerson obituary

Mark Gerson, a British photographer renowned for his intimate portraits of literary figures, has died at age 104. Over a career spanning half a century, Gerson captured iconic images of authors including Evelyn Waugh, Doris Lessing, William Golding, Tom Stoppard, and Martin Amis, often photographing them in their own homes to put them at ease. His most famous picture is of a grumpy Waugh on his 60th birthday, taken after Gerson was plied with wine. Gerson's work was championed by National Portrait Gallery director Roy Strong, and in 1996 the gallery held a major exhibition of his portraits titled "Literati."

Ittai Gradel, Whistleblower in British Museum Gem Theft, Dies at 61

Ittai Gradel, the Israel-born Danish gem expert who alerted the British Museum to the theft of thousands of antiquities from its collection after discovering them for sale on eBay, died on April 28 of renal cancer at age 61. Days before his death, British Museum officials visited him in hospice and presented him with a rarely awarded medal for his service. Gradel first warned deputy director Jonathan Williams in 2021 that artifacts were being sold online, identified veteran curator Peter Higgs as the culprit, and provided detailed evidence. After the museum failed to act, Gradel contacted then-director Hartwig Fischer; two years later, Higgs was fired, and Fischer and Williams left the institution amid the scandal.

Brigitte Meese Dies at 96

Brigitte Meese stirbt mit 96 Jahren

Brigitte Meese, the mother, manager, and long-time artistic companion of German artist Jonathan Meese, has died at the age of 96. She was a formative figure in her son's artistic environment, providing organizational support for decades while also serving as his muse, model, and co-performer.