Bruno Bischofberger, Swiss Art Dealer and Early Backer of Basquiat, Dies at 86

Bruno Bischofberger, the influential Swiss art dealer, collector, and historian, died on Saturday at age 86. He opened his first galleries in Zurich and St. Moritz in 1963, championed American Pop artists like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, and became an early backer of Jean-Michel Basquiat, representing him from 1982. Bischofberger also helped found Interview magazine with Peter Brant and was a longtime exhibitor at Art Basel.

Gallerist Bruno Bischofberger, Who Catalyzed Basquiat/Warhol Collaboration, Dies at 86

Swiss art dealer Bruno Bischofberger, who catalyzed the famous collaboration between Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, died on May 9 at age 86. His death was announced by his namesake gallery, which he had operated since 1963. Bischofberger played a pivotal role in introducing US Pop artists to Europe, representing Warhol and Basquiat, and commissioning collaborative works that led Warhol to return to painting after a two-decade hiatus. He also represented European artists like Francesco Clemente, Enzo Cucchi, Gerhard Richter, and Jean Tinguely, and his idiosyncratic ads graced Artforum's back cover for nearly four decades.

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Beatriz González, a pioneering Colombian painter and one of the most important Latin American artists of the 20th century, died on Friday at her home in Bogotá at age 93. Her Zurich-based representative, Galerie Peter Kilchmann, announced her passing but did not specify a cause. González first gained fame in the 1960s by remaking art historical masterpieces by Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci in a deliberately garish color palette, later pivoting in the 1980s to explicitly political works critiquing government violence in Colombia. Her career included major exhibitions at Documenta 14 in 2017, the Museum of Modern Art's 2019 rehang, and a retrospective that premiered at the Pinacoteca de São Paulo and will travel to the Barbican Centre in London and the Astrup Fearnley Museet in Oslo.

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Arthur “Art” Green, a key Chicago Imagist painter and original member of the Hairy Who, died at age 83 in April. The news was announced by Garth Greenan Gallery in New York, which represented him. Green rose to prominence in the mid-1960s alongside five fellow School of the Art Institute of Chicago graduates, exhibiting together as the Hairy Who from 1966 to 1969. Their work offered a humorous, hallucinatory take on American culture, blending Surrealism, Art Brut, and advertising conventions. Green developed a rich personal iconography featuring ice cream cones, wood grain, flames, and fingernails, and taught for decades, influencing a generation of artists.

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Rosalyn Drexler, a Pop artist known for her 1960s paintings exploring Hollywood, violence, and gender, died in New York at age 98. Her death was confirmed by Garth Greenan Gallery, which represents her. Drexler also wrote novels and briefly worked as a professional wrestler before turning to art.

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Georgian-Russian artist Zurab Tsereteli has died at age 91. He served as the chief artist of the USSR’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and headed Russia’s Academy of Arts, and was a known supporter of Vladimir Putin. His monumental sculptures, favored by Russian elites, were controversial in his native Georgia.

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American artist Llyn Foulkes has died at age 91, as confirmed by Kent Fine Art. Known for defying stylistic categorization, Foulkes was an early pioneer of Pop art, showing at Fergus Gallery in the mid-1960s ahead of Andy Warhol. He won the painting prize at the Paris Biennale in 1967 and represented the United States at the IX São Paulo Art Biennial that same year. His work incorporated collaged elements and explored themes of photography, Americana, and commercial pop culture. Foulkes was also a jazz musician, performing with R. Crumb and forming the Rubber Band, which appeared on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. He invented a one-man-band instrument called the Machine and participated in Documenta 13 in 2012, with a retrospective at the Hammer Museum in 2013.

Nicholas Pope, sculptor whose career came in two acts, 1949–2026

Nicholas Pope, a British sculptor known for his organic, post-minimalist works, has died at age 76. His career unfolded in two distinct acts: an early phase in the 1970s producing roughly-hewn wooden columns like *Oak Tree Column* (1973) and *Drooping Column* (1975), which earned him a spot in the British Pavilion at the 1980 Venice Biennale, followed by a decades-long hiatus after contracting viral encephalitis in Tanzania. He later returned to sculpture with brighter, brasher works in ceramic, glass, and felt, including *The Apostles Speaking in Tongues Lit By Their Own Lamps* (1993–96) and collaborations like *The Conundrum of the Chalices of the Seven Deadly Sins and Seven Virtues* (2015) with James Maskrey.

Remembering Bruno Bischofberger, Manuela Hoelterhoff, and Steven Durland

This week's In Memoriam column from Hyperallergic honors seven figures from the art world who recently passed away, including Swiss collector and dealer Bruno Bischofberger (1940–2026), Pulitzer-winning arts critic Manuela Hoelterhoff (1949–2026), and artist-editor Steven Durland (1951–2026). Other notable losses include British painter Ray Burgoyne, iconographer Christina Dochwat, German gallerist Jenny Falckenberg, realist painter Ward Nichols, and MoMA preparator Pamela A. Popeson. Each entry provides a brief biography and highlights their contributions to visual art, criticism, and cultural organizing.

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Pope Francis, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, has died at age 88. A Jesuit priest from Argentina, he was the first pope from the Americas and the first from outside Europe since the 8th century. During his papacy, he took progressive stances on social justice, migrants, the environment, and the LGBTQ community, and also engaged deeply with contemporary art. He oversaw the Vatican Museums, ordered the return of Parthenon marble fragments to Greece, restored Raphael frescoes, and became the first pope to visit the Venice Biennale, where the Vatican had its first-ever pavilion in 2013.

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Pope Francis died on April 20 at age 88, ending a transformative papacy that began in 2013. He was the first Jesuit pope, first from the southern hemisphere, and took his name from St. Francis of Assisi. Known for austerity and advocacy for the oppressed, he criticized wars in Gaza and Ukraine, apologized to Indigenous communities in Canada, and made history in 2024 by attending the Venice Biennale—the first pope to do so—visiting the Holy See Pavilion at the Women's Prison on Giudecca.

Glen Baxter obituary

Cartoonist and surrealist Glen Baxter has died at the age of 82. He was celebrated for his distinctive style, which blended deadpan captions with pop art-inspired scenes featuring characters like cowboys and spacemen in bizarre situations. His work appeared in major publications like the New Yorker and the Observer, and he was also a staple of humorous greeting cards.

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This tribute article recounts the profound impact of artist Dara Birnbaum's work on the author, describing a chance meeting with Birnbaum at MoMA's café and the subsequent friendship that developed. It highlights Birnbaum's pioneering role in video art, including her manipulation of single video frames and use of color bars, and cites key works like "Technology/Transformation: Wonder Woman" (1978–79), "Local TV News Analysis" (1980), and "MTV: Artbreak" (1987) that deconstructed mass media and gender representation.

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Robert Wilson, the influential playwright and artist known for his spare, slow-moving productions that blurred the line between performance art and theater, died Thursday at age 83 in Water Mill, New York. His death was announced by the Watermill Center, the arts center he founded, which stated he died of a brief but acute illness. Wilson's career spanned stage works like the landmark 1976 opera *Einstein on the Beach* (with Philip Glass and Lucinda Childs), video portraits of figures such as Lady Gaga and Brad Pitt, and sculptures, all characterized by stillness and a radical use of time.

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Bill Dilworth, the longtime caretaker of Walter De Maria's "The New York Earth Room," died on December 10, 2024, at age 70 from a stroke. His death was reported by The New York Times on Saturday. Dilworth tended the 1977 installation—280,000 pounds of dirt piled two feet high—for 35 years, from 1989 until his retirement in 2024. Managed by the Dia Art Foundation, the piece has been open to the public since 1980 and became a cult favorite, even inspiring a lookalike in a music video by pop star Lorde. Dilworth, an abstract painter, also maintained another De Maria work, "The Broken Kilometer," through his wife Patti, who served as its caretaker.

Mary Lovelace O’Neal, Abstract Painter Who Refused to Conform, Dies at 84

Mary Lovelace O’Neal, an abstract painter known for her gestural, unruly works that defied categorization, died on Sunday in Mérida, Mexico, at age 84. Her galleries, Jenkins Johnson and Marianne Boesky, announced her passing. O’Neal produced sprawling paintings characterized by tangles of drippy strokes, often using lamp black pigment to create intensely black canvases. She rejected labels like Abstract Expressionist or Minimalist, insisting she was simply a painter. Her series "Whales Fucking" (1979) and a 2020 exhibition at Mnuchin Gallery revived her profile, leading to inclusion in the 2024 Whitney Biennial.

Bruno Bischofberger stirbt im Alter von 86 Jahren

Bruno Bischofberger, the influential Swiss gallerist and art collector, has died at age 86. His gallery announced the news. Bischofberger was a key figure in the international art trade, known for introducing American post-war art to Europe. He formed a close partnership with Andy Warhol, who granted him a lifelong first-refusal right on his works. In 1984, Bischofberger initiated the collaboration between Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, and also facilitated joint works with Francesco Clemente. He opened his first gallery in Zurich in 1963, showing artists like Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, Claes Oldenburg, and Gerhard Richter, and later expanded to Männedorf and St. Moritz.

Remembering Peter Phillips, the pioneering British Pop artist, who has died, aged 86

British Pop artist Peter Phillips has died at age 86. Known for his collage-like, saturated compositions incorporating mechanical parts, comic books, and pin-up imagery, Phillips emerged from Birmingham's industrial landscape and studied at the Royal College of Art alongside peers like David Hockney and R.B. Kitaj. His work, such as *The Entertainment Machine* (1961) and the *Custom Painting* series, reflected his working-class upbringing and fascination with car manufacturing and commercial design.

Philip Castle obituary

Philip Castle, the influential British airbrush artist best known for creating the iconic poster for Stanley Kubrick's film 'A Clockwork Orange,' has died at age 83. Castle's distinctive, futuristic style, achieved with an airbrush tool, defined a key visual aesthetic of late 20th-century pop culture.

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German installation artist Henrike Naumann has passed away at the age of 41 following a battle with cancer. At the time of her death, Naumann was preparing for the pinnacle of her career: representing Germany at the upcoming 61st Venice Biennale. The German pavilion organizers have confirmed that they will work closely with her studio team to realize her finalized artistic vision for the exhibition as planned this May.

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Peter Phillips, a founding figure of the British Pop art movement, died on June 23 at age 86. Born in Birmingham in 1939, he studied at London's Royal College of Art alongside David Hockney, Allen Jones, and R.B. Kitaj, and became known for vibrant paintings that incorporated consumer culture imagery, such as his 1961 work *For Men Only — Starring MM and BB*. His career included exhibitions at the Paris Biennale, the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague, and shows in New York alongside Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. In later years he moved to Australia, and his family is raising funds to establish the Peter Phillips Foundation.

Remembering Gathie Falk, Canadian artist whose singular practice sparked comparisons to Surrealism and Pop art

Gathie Falk, the acclaimed Canadian artist known for her six-decade practice spanning Surrealist paintings, hand-fashioned ceramics, sculptural installations, and performance, died at her home in Vancouver on 22 December at age 97. Her work transformed everyday objects—glazed ceramic apples, cabbages, shoes, and watermelons—into jewel-like sculptures and installations, with notable series including "Picnics" (1976-77), "Cement With Poppies" (1982), and "55 Oranges" (1969-70). Born in rural Manitoba in 1928 to Mennonite refugees, Falk initially pursued music before turning to art at age 37, studying ceramics with Glenn Lewis and developing a practice rooted in what she called a "veneration of the ordinary."

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Margaret Keane, the American painter known for her iconic "Big Eyed Waif" portraits, died on June 26 at age 94 in her Napa Valley home due to heart failure. For years, her second husband Walter Keane fraudulently claimed credit for her work, a deception that unraveled in the 1970s when she challenged him to a public paint-off and later won a courtroom showdown in 1986. Her story gained renewed attention with Tim Burton's 2014 film *Big Eyes*, starring Amy Adams.

Remembering Pope Francis, for 12 years head of the Catholic church and proprietor in trust of the Vatican's library and art collections

Pope Francis, the 266th pope and the first from the Americas and the Global South, has died. He was the spiritual leader of 1.3 billion Catholics, head of state of the Vatican, and proprietor in trust of the Vatican's vast art and architectural collections. Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Argentina, he was the first Jesuit pope and the first to take the name Francis, signaling a commitment to austerity and social justice. His papacy, beginning in 2013 after Benedict XVI's resignation, addressed theological controversies, church culture wars, interfaith relations, Vatican financial reform, the clergy sexual abuse crisis, and cultural restitution from the Vatican's holdings.

È morto Bruno Bischofberger, il gallerista e collezionista svizzero che fece lavorare assieme Warhol e Basquiat

Bruno Bischofberger, the influential Swiss gallerist and collector, has died at age 86. A pivotal figure in the contemporary art market, he opened his first gallery in Zurich in 1963 and was instrumental in introducing American Pop Art to Europe, exhibiting Warhol, Lichtenstein, and Rauschenberg. He later championed Minimalism, Land Art, and Neo-Expressionism, representing artists like Sol LeWitt, Donald Judd, and Francesco Clemente. Most famously, Bischofberger discovered Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1981 and orchestrated the legendary collaboration between Warhol, Basquiat, and Clemente. His close relationship with Warhol included a first-refusal agreement on future works and the suggestion of standardized portrait commissions that became Warhol's primary income source.

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A new inquest has determined that the death of British abstract painter Sarah Cunningham at age 31 last year was accidental. Cunningham, represented by Lisson Gallery, went missing after a night out in London on November 2, 2023, and was later found dead on the tracks at Chalk Farm Underground Station. The Poplar Coroner's Court concluded on April 9 that although she jumped onto the track, she did not intend to take her own life, noting she was intoxicated at the time. Her body was discovered after a train struck her 18 minutes later.

Death of Artist Fabien Verschaere

Disparition de l’artiste Fabien Verschaere

The French contemporary art world is mourning the sudden death of artist Fabien Verschaere at the age of 50. Represented by Galerie Brugier-Rigail since 2012, Verschaere was known for a prolific and singular body of work that blended childhood imagery, fairy tales, and pop culture icons like Mickey Mouse and Batman into a complex personal mythology. His career was marked by significant exhibitions at major institutions including the Palais de Tokyo, the Musée d’art contemporain de Lyon, and the Grand Palais.

Pedro Friedeberg, Surrealist Artist Known for Hand-Chair, Dies at 90

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Pedro Friedeberg, the prolific artist and designer central to Mexico’s Surrealist-aligned circles, has died at age 90 in San Miguel de Allende. Born in Italy and having fled to Mexico to escape fascism, Friedeberg became a singular figure in Latin American art, known for his architectural paintings and whimsical, absurdist sculptures. His death was confirmed by his New York representative, Ruiz-Healy Art.

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Drew Struzan, the artist behind iconic movie posters for franchises like Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Indiana Jones, died on October 13 at age 78 after a battle with Alzheimer's. His wife, writer Dylan Struzan, announced the news on Instagram, noting his daily engagement with the works of Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Cézanne. Struzan studied under Lorser Feitelson at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and was influenced by Impressionists as well as Renaissance masters like Michelangelo and Pontormo.

Chris Mullen obituary

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.