CAA News Today

CAA recognizes the lives and achievements of the following artists, photographers, scholars, curators, critics, dealers, collectors, and other professionals and important figures in the visual arts. Of special note is Zena Pearlstone’s text on the Native American artist Michael Kabotie.

• Sarane Alexandrian, an art historian, poet, writer, and founder of the literary magazine Supérieur Inconnu, which was dedicated to Surrealism, died on September 11, 2009, at the age of 82
• Frances L. Brody, an arts advocate, collector, and benefactor of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Gardens, died on November 12, 2009, at the age of 93
• José Cisneros, a self-taught artist best known for his pen-and-ink sketches of history and life in the southwestern United States, died on November 14, 2009, at the age of 99. He was awarded a National Humanities Medal in 2002.
• Roy DeCarava, a photographer and professor of art who sought creative expression, rather than social documentary, through his photography of life in Harlem, died on October 27, 2009. He was 89
• Evelyn Hofer, a photographer of both human and architectural subjects who excelled at still, composed portraits and scenes, died on November 2, 2009. She was 87
• Michael Kabotie, a Hopi artist, muralist, jeweler, poet, and printmaker whose work promoted understanding of traditional Hopi teachings, died on October 23, at the age of 67. Read Zena Pearlstone’s text, written especially for CAA
• Wolfgang Ketterer, a German art dealer whose gallery in Stuttgart and Munich specialized in modern art, died on October 14, 2009. He was 89
• Irving Kriesberg, a figurative expressionist painter praised for his bold forms and intense colors, died on November 11, 2009, at the age of 90
• Robert Lautman, an architectural photographer whose work focuses on the use of light to capture architectural design, died on October 20, 2009, at the age of 85
• Claude Lévi-Strauss, a preeminent anthropologist whose structuralist approach influenced many writers, theorists, and art historians worldwide, died on October 30, 2009. He was 100
• A. John Poole, an architectural sculptor, letter cutter, restorer of sculpture, and teacher whose often-ecclesiastical work can be found throughout Britain, died on September 2, 2009. He was 83
• Meir “Mike” Ronnen, an art critic for the Jerusalem Post and a cartoonist known for his satirical commentary about life in Israel, died on August 30, 3009, at the age of 83
• Robert Taylor, a former chief art and book critic for the Boston Globe, died on October 25, 2009, at the age of 84
• Nick Waterlow, an art curator and the director of three Sydney Biennales whose exhibitions sought to challenge Australian and international views of contemporary art, died on November 9, 2009. He was 68
• Albert York, a reclusive artist who painted intimate landscapes and still lifes with a quiet sense of the mysterious, died on October 27, 2009, at the age of 80

Read all past obituaries in the arts on the CAA website.

CAA recognizes the lives and achievements of the following artists, scholars, curators, photographers, collectors, architects, museum directors, and other professionals and important figures in the visual arts.

• Maurice Agis, a London-born sculptor and creator of Dreamspace, an inflatable, interactive sculpture that explores color, form, movement, light and sound, died on October 12, 2009, at the age of 77
• Maryanne Amacher, a composer of site-specific sound installations that explore psychoacoustic properties, died on October 22, 2009. She was 66
• Ruth Duckworth, a modernist sculptor of abstract ceramic forms, a muralist, and a ceramics teacher at the University of Chicago, died on October 18, 2009, at the age of 90
• Amos Ferguson, a Bahamian folk artist known for his depictions of biblical scenes and of the landscape and culture of his country, died on October 19, 2009. He was 89.
• Gerald Ferguson, an artist who established the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, where he taught for thirty-eight years, as a major international center of conceptual art, died on October 8, 2009, at the age of 72
• Suzanne Fiol, the founder of Issue Project Room, an art and performance space in Brooklyn, died on October 5, 2009. She was 49
• Nat Finkelstein, the house photographer for Andy Warhol’s Factory for three years in the mid-1960s, died on October 2, 2009. He was 76
• Donald Fisher, a cofounder of the Gap who collected modern art and supported the arts and civic culture in San Francisco, died on September 27, 2009, at the age of 81
• Anne Friedberg, an art historian, theorist, and teacher whose work combined media and film studies, art history, and architecture, died on October 9, 2009, at the age of 57
• Bernard Leo Fuchs, an illustrator whose works for Cosmopolitan, Sports Illustrated, and TV Guide combined realism with avant-garde techniques, died on September 17, 2009. He was 76
• Lawrence Halprin, a landscape architect whose best-known works include the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, DC, and Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco, died on October 25, 2009 at the age of 93
• Jenelsie Walden Holloway, an artist, advocate for African American art, and a teacher at Spelman College for thirty-eight years, died on October 15, 2009, at the age of 89
• Henry T. Hopkins, former director of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Hammer Museum, founder of the Huysman Gallery in Los Angeles, and professor and chair of the Department of Art at UCLA, died on September 27, 2009, at the age of 81
• Barry Horn, executive director of the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art in Brownsville, Texas, died on October 24, 2009. He was 59
• Michael Komechak, a teacher of English and art and a curator at Benedictine University in Illinois, where he helped to acquire over 3,700 works of art from around the world, died on August 19, 2009. He was 77
• Barbara Morris, a curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum who was one of the first scholars to treat the study of Victorian art and design as an academic discipline, died on July 15, 2009, at the age of 90
• Robert M. Murdock, an independent curator and scholar of modern and contemporary art who was also a museum director and curator, died on October 8, 2009, at the age of 67
• Emile Norman, an artist and sculptor whose best-known works are the glass mosaic window and sculptural reliefs created for a Masonic temple in San Francisco, died on September 24, 2009. He was 91
• Irving Penn, a fashion photographer whose elegant, minimal works appeared in the pages of Vogue and on the walls of museums, died on October 7, 2009, at the age of 92
• Monica Pidgeon, an editor at Architectural Design who promoted the work of major modernist architects, died on September 17, 2009. She was 95
• Don Ivan Punchatz, an illustrator of novels, magazines, and the first Star Wars film poster, died on October 22, 2009, at the age of 73
• Richard Robbins, a painter, etcher, and sculptor who was the head of fine art at Middlesex University in London, died on July 28, 2009, at the age of 82
• George Sample, an architect who founded the nonprofit Chicago Architectural Assistance Center, which provided design and construction support to inner-city neighborhoods, died on October 4, 2009. He was 90
• Harry Sefarbi, a painter and teacher at the Barnes Foundation whose colorful paintings can be found in many museum collections, died on September 28, 2009. He was 92
• Charles Seliger, an Abstract Expressionist painter whose small works of imaginary forms were influenced by Surrealism and automatism, died on October 1, 2009, at the age of 83
• Nancy Spero, an artist and feminist who combined drawing, painting, collage, and printmaking to create politicized work, died on October 18, 2009 at the age of 83. She was a member of Women Artists in Revolution and a founding member of A.I.R. Gallery, which promotes women’s art
• Alfred Brockie Stevenson, an American realist painter known for his nostalgic images of American life, died on September 1, 2009. He was 89
• Dietrich von Bothmer, curator emeritus of Greek and Roman antiquities at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a professor at the Institute of Fine Art at New York University, died on October 12, 2009, at the age of 91. He helped to develop the museum’s collection of Greek vases into one of the largest in the world

Read all past obituaries in the arts on the CAA website.

CAA recognizes the lives and achievements of the following artists, scholars, curators, photographers, and other professionals and important figures in the visual arts. Of special note is an obituary written especially for CAA: Jay Garfield on Bernard Hanson.

• David K. Anderson, a contemporary art dealer from Buffalo, NY, who donated his art gallery and part of his collection to the University at Buffalo, died on August 15, 2009, at the age of 74
• Hyman Bloom, a Latvian-born American artist whose pre–Abstract Expressionist paintings were influenced by his interest in mysticism and spirituality, died on August 26, 2009. He was 96
• Humphrey Case, an English prehistorian and archaeologist who specialized in Neolithic Beaker culture, died on June 13, 2009, at the age of 91
• Michael Dailey, a teacher and abstract painter from Seattle who continued to paint while living with multiple sclerosis, died on August 9, 2009, at age 71
• John Edwards, a British abstract painter, sculptor, and teacher whose later work was influenced by his time spent in India, died on August 22, 2009. He was 71
• Barry Flanagan, a sculptor and printmaker whose interdisciplinary interests in dance, poetry, and literature influenced his work, died on August 31, 2009, at the age of 68. He experimented with Minimalism and land art but is best known for his bronze hares
• Donald Hamilton Fraser, a British artist and journalist for Arts Review who, at different times, employed both abstraction and figuration in his painting, died on September 2, 2009, at the age of 80
• Robinson Fredenthal, a sculptor from Philadelphia whose work was influenced by his struggle with Parkinson’s disease, died on August 31, 2009, at age 69
• Frederick Gore, an English art teacher, author, and plein-air painter of landscapes and cityscapes, died on August 31, 2009, at the age of 95
• Max Gurvich, a Seattle arts patron who supported the Seattle Art Museum and the Cornish College of the Arts, died on June 15, 2009, at age 91
• Bernard Hanson, a New England-based art historian, art critic, and professor, died on June 21, 2009. He was 86. Jay Garfield of Smith College has written a special text for CAA
• Charles Harrison, an art historian, critic, and former editor of Art-Language and Studio International, died on August 6, 2009, at age 67. He also taught, organized exhibitions, and was instrumental in creating the anthology Art in Theory 1900–1990, with Paul Wood
• James Krenov, a Russian-born woodworker, teacher, and writer whose furniture designs are responsive to the unique characteristics of the wood he used,  died on September 9, 2009, at the age of 88
• James Lord, a memoirist and biographer of Pablo Picasso and Alberto Giacometti, died on August 23, 2009. He was 86
• Janet MacLeod, a British sculptor of bronze, marble, and silver who focused on the theme of regeneration, died in summer 2009 at the age of 72
• Michael Mazur, a teacher, painter, printmaker, and illustrator who specialized in monotypes, died on August 18, 2009. He was 73
• Richard Merkin, a teacher, painter, and illustrator whose colorful images appeared in various publications, including the New Yorker, died on September 5, 2009, at age 70. His extravagant and flamboyant style not only influenced his art, but also led him to write a style column for GQ
• Milo M. Naeve, a former curator of American art at the Art Institute of Chicago, died on August 10, 2009. He was 77
• Mario Cravo Neto, a Brazilian photographer whose work, often spiritual, documented the people of the Bahia region where he was from, died on August 9, 2009, at age 62
• Alexander Podlashuc, a South African artist, teacher, and cofounder, with his wife, of the Bloemfontein Group, died on September 5, 2009, at the age of 79
• Willy Ronis, a French photographer and former photojournalist who documented street scenes in Paris, died on September 12, 2009. He was 99
• Buky Schwartz, an Israeli sculptor and video artist, died on September 2, 2009, at the age of 77
• Paul Shanley, a former publisher of the magazines Art in America and Arts, died on September 2, 2009. He was 83
• David Thomson, a British writer on art and architecture of the Renaissance and a lecturer on art history, died in summer 2009, at age 57
• Maurizio Valenzi, a Tunisian-born painter and a communist politician, died on June 23, 2009. He was 99
• Christina Von Hassell, an art critic and auction reporter in New York, died on August 15, 2009, at the age of 85
• Leslie Worth, an English watercolor artist, teacher, former president of the Royal Watercolour Society, and author of The Practice of Watercolour Painting, died on July 21, 2009, at age 86

Read all past obituaries in the arts on the CAA website.

CAA recognizes the lives and achievements of the following artists, art historians, curators, photographers, architects, and other professionals and important figures in the visual arts.

• H. T. Cadbury-Brown, a British modernist architect, died on July 9, 2009. He was 96
• James Conlon, director of the Visual Media Center at Columbia University, died on July 17, 2009, at the age of 37
• Merce Cunningham, an avant-garde choreographer and dancer, died on July 26, 2009. He was 90
• Michael Dailey, a painter and teacher based in Seattle, died on August 9, 2009, at the age of 71
• Julian Dashper, a New Zealand artist, died on July 30, 2009. He was 49
• Heinz Edelmann, an illustrator and professor who worked on the film Yellow Submarine, died on July 21, 2009, at the age of 75
• Kenneth Garlick, a scholar and keeper of Western art at the Ashmolean Museum, died on July 22, 2009, at age 92
• Charles Gwathmey, an American modernist architect, died on August 3, 2009, at the age of 71
• Earl Haig, a British soldier and painter, died on July 9, 2009. He was 91
• Otto Heino, a Californian potter and educator, died on July 16, 2009, at the age of 94
• Francisco Hidalgo, a Spanish-born French cartoonist and photographer, died on July 25, 2009. He was 80
• Ingeborg Hunzinger, a German sculptor, died on July 19, 2009. She was 94
• Marcey Jacobson, a self-taught photographer who worked in Mexico, died on July 26, 2009, at age 97
• Bill Jay, a photographer, writer, and former editor of Creative Camera, died on May 10, 2009, at age 68
• Amos Kenan, an Israeli writer and artist, died on August 4, 2009, at the age of 82
• Tamara Krikorian, a video artist and public-art curator in Wales, died on July 11, 2009. She was 65
• John Lidzey, an English artist and teacher who was known for his watercolors, died on April 5, 2009, at age 74
• Michael Martin, a New York graffiti artist known as Iz the Wiz, died on June 17, 2009. He was 50
• Cecile McCann, a Californian artist and publisher of Artweek magazine, died on July 2, 2009. She was 91
• Tyeb Mehta, a major painter in postcolonial modern art in India, died on July 1, 2009, at the age of 84
• Leo Mol, a renowned Canadian sculptor, died on July 4, 2009, at the age of 94
• Charles Huntley Nelson, an artist and professor of art at Morehouse College, died on July 30, 2009. He was 39
• Joan O’Mara, a professor of art history at Washington and Lee University, died on May 24, 2009, at the age of 63
• Chris Plowman, a British artist and teacher, died in mid-July 2009. He was 56
• Constantine Raitzky, a former exhibition designer for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, died on June 29, 2009, at age 78
• Julius Shulman, a photographer of modernist architecture, died on July 15, 2009, at the age of 98
• Dash Snow, a New York–based artist, died on July 13, 2009. He was 27

Read all past obituaries in the arts on the CAA website.

CAA recognizes the personal and professional achievements of the following artists, art historians, critics, curators, and collectors in the visual arts:

• Gilbert Alfred Bouchard, a Canadian art critic who wrote for the Edmonton Journal for nearly twenty-five years, has died. He was 47
• Robert Colescott, an American painter who represented the United States at the Venice Biennial in 1997, died on June 4, 2009, in Tucson, Arizona. He was 83
• Louise Deutschman, a curator and director of Waddell Gallery, Alex Rosenberg Gallery, and Sidney Janis Gallery, died on May 10, 2009, at the age of 92
• Ellen D’Oench, a curator for the Davison Art Center and adjunct professor of art at Wesleyan University, died on May 22, 2009, at age 78
• Johnny Donnels, a New Orleans–based photographer, died on March 19, 2009. He was 84
• Arthur Erickson, a modernist Canadian architect who designed many buildings in Vancouver, died on May 20, 2009, at age 84
• Patrick Farrow, a sculptor and gallery owner who was Mia Farrow’s brother, died on June 15, 2009, in Castleton, NH. He was 66
• Ib Geertsen, a Danish abstract painter who was associated with the Konkrete movement, died on June 3, 2009, at age 90
• Frederick Hammersley, a painter who was one of the four Los Angeles–based Abstract Classicists, died on May 31, 2009. He was 90
• William Hemmerling, a Southern folk artist based in Louisiana, died on June 15, 2009, at the age of 66
• Mary Henry, a geometric abstract painter based in the Pacific Northwest, died on May 20, 2009. She was 96
• David Ireland, a sculptor and conceptual artist based in San Francisco, died on May 17, 2009. He was 78
• Pirkle Jones, a California photographer who focused on social activism, died on March 15, 2009, at the age of 95
• Mildred Schiff Lee, an art collector and philanthropist who lived in Palm Beach, FL, died on May 7, 2009. She was 89
• Sam Maloof, a modernist furniture designer and woodworker based in southern California, died on May 21, 2009, at age 93
• Frank Herbert Mason, a painter and longtime instructor at the Art Students League in New York, died on June 16, 2009. He was 87 or 88
• Margaret Mellis, an influential figure in modern British art, died on March 17, 2009, at age 95
• John Michelini, a landscape painter from New Hampshire, died in mid-May 2009, at the age of 43
• Philip Stein, a muralist whose work appears at the Village Vanguard in New York, died on April 27, 2009. He was 90

Read all past obituaries in the arts on the CAA website.

CAA recognizes the lives and achievements of the following artists, art historians, and theorists. Of special note are two obituaries written especially for CAA: Richard R. Ranta on Carol Purtle, and Clark V. Poling on John Howett.

• Ernie Barnes, an artist who was also a professional football player, died on April 27, 2009, at the age of 70
• John Howett, a professor emeritus of art history at Emory University, died on April 8, 2009, at the age of 82
• Jack Prip, a silversmith who taught for many years at the Rhode Island School of Design, died on April 8, 2009. He was 86
• Carol Purtle, a professor of art history at the University of Memphis, died on December 12, 2008, at the age of 69
• David W. Scott, an artist, art historian, and founding director of the National Museum of American Art, died on March 30, 2009. He was 92
• Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, a literary theorist and pioneer of queer studies, died on April 12, 2009, at the age of 58
• Honoré Sharrer, a figurative American artist who rose to prominence in the 1940s, died on April 17, 2009. She was 88

Read all past obituaries in the arts on the CAA website.

CAA recognizes the lives and achievements of the following artists, scholars, and architects. Of special note is Petra ten-Doesschate Chu and June Hargrove’s obituary for CAA on the Swiss art historian Hans A. Lüthy.

• Robert Delford Brown, an artist who helped create Happenings in the early 1960s, was found dead in Wilmington, North Carolina, on March 24, 2009. He was 78
• Hanne Darboven, a German artist who was a major figure in Conceptual art, died on March 9, 2009, near Hamburg. She was 67
• Johnny Donnels, a New Orleans photographer, died on March 19, 2009, at the age of 84
• Lorenz Eitner, a professor who rebuilt the Stanford University Art Department and directed the school’s museum, died on March 11, 2009. He was 89
• Sverre Fehn, a Norwegian architect who won the Pritzker Architecture Prize, died on February 23, 2009, at age 84
• Mary Hambleton, an artist, teacher, and Guggenheim fellow, died on January 9, 2009. She was 56
• Helen Levitt, an American photographer whose first solo exhibition was at the Museum of Modern Art in 1943, died on March 29, 2009, in New York. She was 95
• Hans A. Lüthy, a Swiss art historian, died on March 8, 2009
• Stephen M. Panella, an artist based in Aurora, Illinois, died on November 29, 2008, at the age of 34
• Susan Peterson, a ceramic artist, writer, and professor, died on March 26, 2009, in Scottsdale, Arizona. She was 83

Read all past obituaries in the arts on the CAA website.