In Memoriam: Remembering the Curators, Artists, Writers, and Dealers We Lost in 2020

David Driskell and Beverly Pepper were among those who died in 2020.

The artist Luchita Hurtado. Photo courtesy of TIME magazine.

As a difficult year draws to a close, we’re taking a moment to look back on those we lost in the art world in 2020.

The list below is arranged according to the date the obituary was published. Links in italics take you to other news outlets; the others take you to Artnet News coverage.

 

January

John Baldessari in a still from "A Brief History of John Baldessari."

John Baldessari in a still from “A Brief History of John Baldessari.”

Friends and Former Students Remember the Late John Baldessari as an Artist Who ‘Always Knew What He Was Doing’

Hester Diamond, collector

Jason Polan, artist

Ferdinand Neess, collector

Santu Mofokeng, photographer

 

February

Beverly Pepper working in Spoleto, Italy (1962). Photo ©Beverly Pepper, courtesy of Marlborough Contemporary, New York and London.

Beverly Pepper working in Spoleto, Italy (1962). Photo ©Beverly Pepper, courtesy of Marlborough Contemporary, New York and London.

Artist Beverly Pepper, Who Long Rejected Critics’ Attempts to Define Her Brawny Sculptures, Has Died at 97

Emily Mason, artist

Kevin Consey, museum director

Anne Marion, philanthropist

James Brown, artist

Jack Youngerman, artist

Bartholomew Beal, artist

Liu Shouxiang, artist

Virginia Wright, collector and philanthropist

Joanna Frueh, artist and art historian

James Brown, artist and publisher; and Alexandra Condon, publisher

 

March

Ulay by Primož Korošec.

Ulay by Primož Korošec.

Ulay, the Performance Art Pioneer and Fabled Former Partner of Marina Abramović, Has Died at Age 76

Genesis P-Orridge, Known for the Band Throbbing Gristle and Art That Transcended Gender, Has Died

Prominent New York Gallerist Paul Kasmin, Who Helped Elevate Chelsea Into an Art Hub, Has Died at Age 60

Art Critic and Curator Maurice Berger, Whose Prescient Work Addressed Representations of Race, Has Died at Age 63

Renato Danese, dealer

William Burke, dealer and collector

Félix Marcilhac, collector

James Powers, dealer

Irwin Kremen, psychologist and artist

J. Seward Johnson Jr., artist

Nelson Leirner, artist

Alan Turner, artist

Henry Cobb, architect

Peter Dreher, artist

Suellen Rocca, artist

Merry Norris, philanthropist

Vittorio Gregotti, architect

Michael Sorkin, critic

Tomie dePaola, author and illustrator

 

April

Germano Celant attends the opening event of Torre at Fondazione Prada on April 19, 2018 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Pietro D'Aprano/Getty Images for Prada)

Germano Celant. Photo by Pietro D’Aprano/Getty Images for Prada.

Germano Celant, the Towering Italian Art Critic Who Gave the World Arte Povera, Has Died at Age 79

Zarina, the Indian Artist Who Chronicled Her Peripatetic Lifestyle in Delicate Prints, Has Died at 83

Renowned Wildlife Photographer and Bon Vivant Peter Beard Has Been Found Dead at Age 82, Three Weeks After Disappearing in Montauk

John Driscoll, a Scholar of American Art Who Led New York’s Eminent Driscoll Babcock Gallery, Has Died at 70

Anne Bass, the Philanthropist and Art Collector Who Captivated New York’s High Society, Has Died at 79

David Driskell, the Celebrated Painter and Scholar Who Championed the Long History of Black Art in America, Has Died at 88

American Pop Artist Idelle Weber, Known for Her Striking Depictions of Corporate Banality, Has Died at Age 88

Glenna Goodacre, artist

John Pfahl, artist

Tina Girouard, artist

Lois Weinberger, artist

William Bailey, artist

Markus Raetz, artist

Ian Wilson, artist

Paul J. Smith, museum director

Patrick Shaw Cable, curator

Carleton Wing, artist

Helene Aylon, artist

Namio Harukawa, artist

Tom Blackwell, artist

Rifat Chadirji, architect

Gillian Wise, artist

Fernando Miteff, artist

Norman Gulamerian, artist

Ann Sullivan, animator

David Toren, lawyer

Pellom McDaniels, curator

David Leverett, artist

Ronald Lewis, museum founder

Michael McKinnell, architect

Juan Gimenez, illustrator

Yves Corbassière, artist

William H. Gerdts, art historian

Mort Drucker, comics artist

 

May

Christo and Jeanne-Claude at their studio at 48 Howard Street in New York. Photo Wolfgang Volz. © The Estate of Christo V. Javacheff.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude at their studio at 48 Howard Street in New York. Photo Wolfgang Volz. © The Estate of Christo V. Javacheff.

Christo, Who Transformed Landscapes Around the Globe With Monumental Public Artworks That Delighted Millions, Has Died at 84

Richard Anuszkiewicz, an Op-Art Pioneer Who Pushed Geometric Abstraction to Illusory Ends, Has Died at 89

Artist Susan Rothenberg, Who Painted Free-Roaming Horses in Defiance of Her Era’s Prohibition on Figurative Art, Has Died at 75

Alan Shestack, museum director

Rafael Leonardo Black, artist

Astrid Kirchherr, photographer

Motoko Fujishiro Huthwaite, scholar

Juan Genovés, artist

Abraham Palatnik, artist

Jaquelin Taylor Robertson, architect

Thomas Sokolowski, museum director

Li Hui, artist

Elsa Dorfman, photographer

Peter Alexander, artist

Richard Anuszkiewicz, artist

Emma Amos, artist

Nanda Vigo, architect

 

June

Graphic Designer Milton Glaser in his studio in New York City. Photo by Neville Elder/Corbis via Getty Images.

Graphic designer Milton Glaser in his studio in New York City. Photo by Neville Elder/Corbis via Getty Images.

Legendary Graphic Designer Milton Glaser, Who Created the ‘I Love New York’ Logo During a Fateful Cab Ride, Has Died at 91

Carl Solway, art dealer

Ronald Ollie, collector

Ronald Tackmann, artist

Luther Price, artist

Cynthia Navaretta, publisher

Manuel Felguérez, artist

 

July

Rebeccah Blum in Wilmington, Delaware, in 2015. Courtesy Jane Rosenzweig.

Rebeccah Blum in Wilmington, Delaware, in 2015. Courtesy Jane Rosenzweig.

‘I Want Her Name to Be Remembered’: The Art World Reflects on the Life and Death of Curator Rebeccah Blum

Sculptor Keith Sonnier, America’s Experimental Poet of Light and Neon, Has Died at Age 78

Jyotsna Bhatt, artist, 80

Paul Fusco, photographer

Frank Popper, scholar

Delphine Lévy, museum director

Jane Walentas, philanthropist

Brigid Berlin, artist

Lotty Rosenfeld, artist

Enrico Navarra, collector

Roger Whiteside, photographer

Richard di Liberto, photographer

 

August

Siah Armajani at the Met Breuer press preview of "Siah Armajani: Follow This Line." Photo of courtesy the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Siah Armajani at the Met Breuer press preview of “Siah Armajani: Follow This Line.” Photo of courtesy the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Iranian-American Artist Siah Armajani, Who Reimagined Public Spaces in Cities Around the World, Has Died at 81

American Artist Ron Gorchov, Who Rejected Trends to Forge His Own Path Through Painting, Has Died at 90

Art Collector William Arnett, Champion of Thornton Dial, the Gee’s Bend Quilters, and Other Outsider Artists, Has Died at 81

‘Her Legacy Has Only Just Begun’: Luchita Hurtado, the Protean Artist Who Gained Renown in Her Final Decade, Has Died at 99

Gilda Cordero-Fernando, artist and designer

Frank Dunphy, dealermaker

Gerald D. Hines, philanthropist

Heinz Frank, artist

Suzanne Perelman, artist

Douglas Latchford, scholar and dealer

 

September

Vassilis Dimitriou creating one of his hand-painted movie poster billboards for the Athinaion cinema in Athens. Photo courtesy of the Athinaion.

Vassilis Dimitriou creating one of his hand-painted movie poster billboards for the Athinaion cinema in Athens. Photo courtesy of the Athinaion.

Vasilis Dimitriou, the Artist Who Carried on the Lost Art of Hand-Painted Movie Billboards, Has Died at 84

Photorealist Painter Robert Bechtle, Who Captured the Bay Area in Painstakingly Faithful Detail, Has Died at 88

Nancy Dine, a Filmmaker Who Redefined the Role of the ‘Artist’s Wife,’ Has Died at 83

Kate Daw, painter and curator

Varujan Boghosian, artist

Franco Maria Ricci, publisher

Myra F. Levick, art therapist

Terence Conran, designer

 

October

Sindika Dokolo.

Sindika Dokolo.

Billionaire Congolese Art Collector Sindika Dokolo, Who Championed the Restitution of African Art, Has Died at Age 48

The Art World Remembers Matthew Wong, Self-Taught Painter of Vibrant Landscapes, Who Has Died at 35

Linda Givon, dealer

John Coles, archaeologist

Marianne Wex, artist

Frederick Weston, artist

Chris Killip, photographer

Alan Rath, artist

Mohamed Melehi, artist

Tenzo Takada, artist and designer

Lindy Dufferin, artist

 

November

Daniel Cordier. Photo: Jean-Luc PETIT/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images.

Daniel Cordier. Photo: Jean-Luc PETIT/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images.

Daniel Cordier, the Revered French Resistance Fighter Who Went on to a Successful Career as an Art Dealer, Dies at 100

A 24-Year-Old German Art Student Was Among the Four Victims Killed in Vienna’s Recent Terror Attack

Peter Joseph, artist

Sheldon Solow, collector

Herman Daled, collector

Tamara “Hyuro” Djurovic, artist

Ruth DeYoung Kohler II, museum director

Roger Mandle, museum director

Ian Dennis Jenkins, curator

James T. Demetrion, museum director

Suh Se Ok, artist

Irina Antonova, museum director

Aldo Tambellini, filmmaker

Francesco Polenghi, artist

Gordon Baldwin, artist

 

December

Barbara Rose in the 2018 film <em>The Price of Everything</em>. Photo courtesy of HBO.

Barbara Rose in the 2018 film The Price of Everything. Photo courtesy of HBO.

Art Critic Barbara Rose, a Champion of Minimalism Whose Writings Crystallized Decades of Creativity, Has Died at 84

Sven Sachsalber, an Inventive and Wily Italian Artist Who Was on the Rise in New York’s Art Scene, Has Died at 33

John Outterbridge, the Pioneering Assemblage Artist and Los Angeles Community Activist, Has Died at 87

Jackie Saccoccio, artist

Amy Lipton, curator

David Medalla, artist

Pierre Cardin, designer

Roland Reiss, artist

Grace Knowlton, artist

Jack Lenor Larson, textile designer and sculpture garden founder

 

List compiled by Sarah Cascone.