multimedia artist raymond saunders dies at 90

Raymond Saunders, a multimedia artist known for his enigmatic, sociopolitical paintings and assemblage style, has died at age 90. His passing was announced jointly by his representing galleries—Casemore, Andrew Kreps, and David Zwirner—on Instagram. Saunders's work often explored the Black American experience through extensive use of black paint and complex narratives, as articulated in his influential 1967 essay "Black Is a Color." His first career-spanning retrospective, "Flowers from a Black Garden," recently closed at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, his hometown. Saunders had a long teaching career in the Bay Area and received numerous honors, including a Rome Prize Fellowship and a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Renowned feminist artist and film-maker Valie Export dies aged 85

Valie Export, the Austrian performance artist and film-maker known for her provocative feminist works that challenged the male gaze, has died at age 85. Her foundation announced she died in Vienna on Thursday, three days before her 86th birthday. Export gained notoriety in the late 1960s for low-budget performances such as "Tapp und Tastkino" (1968), where she invited shoppers to touch her bare breasts through a tiny curtain strapped to her chest. She also co-founded the Austrian Filmmakers Cooperative, participated in documenta (1977, 2007) and the Venice Biennale (1980), and was a professor of multimedia and performance at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne.

melvin edwards sculptor dead

Melvin Edwards, the pioneering sculptor known for his powerful steel assemblages and "Lynch Fragments" series, has died at the age of 88 in Baltimore. Edwards was a trailblazer who reframed Minimalism by infusing it with political and cultural weight, becoming the first Black sculptor to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum in 1970. His work utilized industrial materials like chains and barbed wire to address histories of enslavement, anti-Black violence, and global conflict while maintaining a sophisticated abstract language.

thaddeus mosley sculptor dead

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.

influential french gallerist daniel lelong dies 92

Daniel Lelong, the influential French gallerist who cultivated deep relationships with 20th-century modern artists, died at age 92. Lelong began his career drafting statutes for the Marguerite and Aimé Maeght Foundation before working at Galerie Maeght, where he organized exhibitions for icons like Joan Miró, Alexander Calder, and Alberto Giacometti. After Maeght's death in 1981, Lelong became director of Galerie Maeght-Lelong alongside Jean Frémon and Jacques Dupin, and the gallery was renamed Galerie Lelong & Co. in 1987, with locations in New York and Zurich. He showed at the first Art Basel in 1970 and maintained close ties with artists such as Jaume Plensa, Jannis Kounellis, and Sean Scully.

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.

ana pellicer sculptor dead

Ana Pellicer, a Mexican sculptor celebrated for her monumental copper creations, has died at age 79. Mexico’s culture ministry announced her death this week without specifying a cause. Pellicer gained international recognition later in life for the oversized jewelry she created for the Statue of Liberty, including a 36-foot-tall necklace exhibited at MoMA PS1 in New York in 2018 as part of the show “Body Armor.” Born in Mexico City in 1946, she spent much of her career in the shadow of her husband, sculptor James Metcalf, and together they trained female artisans in Santa Clara del Cobre in ancient copper techniques, founding the Centro de Acción Educativa.

Jasmine Little, Los Angeles Painter and Ceramicist, Dies at 41

jasmine little painter dead

Los Angeles-based artist Jasmine Little has passed away at the age of 41, as confirmed by her gallery, La Loma. Known for her versatile practice that spanned lush still-life paintings and intricate sgraffito ceramic vessels, Little's work often blended historical references with personal mythology. Her gallerist, Kirk Nelson, remembered her as a "force of nature" who produced monumental sculptures and detailed narratives through intense, dedicated periods of creation.

suki seokyeong kang dead

Suki Seokyeong Kang, a South Korean artist known for blending traditional Korean heritage with contemporary abstract forms, died on Sunday at age 47 (48 in Korean reckoning) after a battle with cancer. Her New York representative, Tina Kim Gallery, confirmed the cause. Kang's work spanned painting, textiles, sculpture, and installation, often incorporating postminimalist structures, craft techniques, and industrial materials. Notable series include her precarious "Grandmother Tower" sculptures and "Mountain" pieces made from curved steel and thread. She was born in Seoul in 1977, studied at Ewha Womans University and the Royal College of Art in London, and later became a professor of painting.

Charlotte Gere obituary

Art historian Charlotte Gere has died at the age of 88. A specialist in 19th-century art and design, she was the author of seminal works like 'Victorian Jewellery Design' and played a key role in rediscovering the lost jewels of architect William Burges, turning her research into compelling detective stories.

Paul Waldman, Creator and Curator of Art Museum for Birds, Dies at 89

Paul Waldman, a multifaceted artist known for his transgressive paintings and unique architectural birdhouses, has died at the age of 89. After overcoming childhood dyslexia and a stint as a competitive bodybuilder, Waldman established a significant career in the New York art scene, characterized by his meticulous technique and a fascination with the human form and avian structures.

Alexander Kluge, filmmaker, writer, philosopher, 1932–2026

Alexander Kluge, the influential German filmmaker, writer, and philosopher, has died at the age of 94. A key figure in the New German Cinema movement and a major intellectual heir to the Frankfurt School, Kluge's career spanned law, film, television production, and literature, leaving a significant mark on postwar German culture.

Lloyd Le Blanc obituary

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.

Dilys Blum, longtime curator of clothes at the Philadelphia Art Museum, dies at 77

Dilys Blum, the longtime curator of fashion and textiles at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, has died at age 77. She retired last summer after 38 years at the museum, where she served as head of the costumes and textiles department, overseeing the care and interpretation of historic clothing and fabric-based art. Blum began her career at the Museum of London, later working at the Brooklyn Museum and the Chicago Conservation Center before joining the Philadelphia Museum in 1987. She curated notable exhibitions including "Off the Wall" (2019) and "BOOM: Art and Design of the 1940s" (2025), and authored several books on fashion history, including works on Elsa Schiaparelli, Roberto Capucci, and Patrick Kelly.

Leigh Magar, High-End Milliner Turned Indigo Artist, Dies at 57

Leigh Magar, a celebrated milliner who crafted bespoke hats for celebrities including Beyoncé and members of the royal family, has died at age 57. After building a high-profile career in Charleston, South Carolina, she relocated to a remote island off the coast, where she shifted her artistic focus to cultivating indigo and creating natural dyes, becoming a dedicated practitioner of the ancient craft.