The art world was not left unaffected by the terror attacks in Paris this past Friday that claimed 129 innocent lives and left 352 injured.
As the world tries to comprehend the senseless tragedy, the identities of those who perished are starting to come to light. On Tuesday, it emerged that the German art critic, photographer, and teacher Fabian Stech was among the 89 victims that died in the attack at the Bataclan Theater, Hannoversche Allgemeine reports.
The 51-year-old had worked for the Cologne-based magazine Kunstforum International as the publication’s France correspondent since 1999.
German art critic Fabian Stech was among the victims.
Photo: Marie Clérin via agnieszkapodgorska.blogspot.com
The journalist conducted interviews with art superstars including Bertrand Lavier, Sylvie Fleury, Pierre Huyghe, Sophie Calle, John Armleder, and John Baldessari.
Stech was an expert on the work of the Chinese painter Yan Pei-Ming and taught at the private art academy Les Arcades in Dijon. The art school’s director Denis Rolland said, “As a result of his immense commitment, contagious enthusiasm, and international outlook, Fabian was a popular teacher among the students and faculty.”
Hannover-born Stech had lived in France since 1994 with his wife and two children. In a statement on Monday, his relatives said, “Together with his children and his wife we will miss Fabian. He was a great person, full of affection for art, always curious about people, full of love. He will be greatly missed.”
French artist Alban Denuit also passed away in the attack.
Photo: Galerie Eponyme via 20minutes.fr
Meanwhile, La Depeche reported that the 32-year-old French artist Alban Denuit was also amongst those who died at the Bataclan massacre. The young artist was a graduate of the prestigious Parisian École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts. He worked as a lecturer at the University Montaigne, Bordeaux, and was represented by the Éponyme galerie in Bordeaux.
The mayor of Denuit’s hometown of Marmande announced that the town’s representative for culture, Karine Bretagne, would stage an exhibition of the artist’s work in his honor in 2017.