Bob Monk, a longtime director at Gagosian who worked closely with artists such as Ed Ruscha and Richard Artschwager, died on December 15 at age 75 due to complications from a heart condition. Monk spent over two decades at Gagosian, and his career also included stints at Leo Castelli Gallery, his own SoHo gallery Lorence-Monk Gallery, and Sotheby's, where he headed the contemporary prints and contemporary art departments.
Barbara Jakobson, a prominent art collector and longtime trustee of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), died at age 92 on August 25 in Manhattan due to pneumonia. Known for her extensive network of relationships with artists, dealers, and curators, she was a central figure in the New York art world for decades. Jakobson served on MoMA's board since 1974, helped found the Studio Museum in Harlem in 1968, and persuaded dealer Leo Castelli to donate Robert Rauschenberg's iconic work "Bed" (1955) to MoMA. Her Upper East Side townhouse, filled with works by artists such as Matthew Barney, Diane Arbus, and Robert Mapplethorpe, was a testament to her lifelong engagement with contemporary art.
Antonio Homem, the longtime associate and eventual director of the Sonnabend Gallery, has died at 86. Homem began working with legendary gallerist Ileana Sonnabend in Paris in 1968, helped her open the New York gallery in 1971, and became the primary steward of the Sonnabend collection after her death in 2007, overseeing its transition into a foundation and a new public museum in Mantova, Italy.