1990 in art
Encyclopedia
Events
- 18 March – Twelve paintings, collectively worth from $100 to $300 million, are stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner MuseumIsabella Stewart Gardner MuseumThe Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum or Fenway Court, as the museum was known during Isabella Stewart Gardner's lifetime, is a museum in the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located within walking distance of the Museum of Fine Arts and near the Back Bay Fens...
in Boston, Massachusetts by 2 thieves posing as police officers. This is the largest art theftArt theftArt theft is usually for the purpose of resale or for ransom . Stolen art is sometimes used by criminals to secure loans.. One must realize that only a small percentage of stolen art is recovered. Estimates range from 5 to 10%. This means that little is known about the scope and characteristics of...
in US history, and the paintings have not been recovered. - 6 April – Robert MapplethorpeRobert MapplethorpeRobert Mapplethorpe was an American photographer, known for his large-scale, highly stylized black and white portraits, photos of flowers and nude men...
's "The Perfect Moment" show of nude and homosexual photographs opens at the Cincinnati Contemporary Art Centre, in spite of accusations of indecency by Citizens for Community Values. - 15 May – Portrait of Doctor Gachet by Vincent van GoghVincent van GoghVincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...
is sold for a record $82.5 million.
Exhibitions
British Art ShowBritish Art Show
The British Art Show is a major survey exhibition organised every five years to showcase contemporary British Art. The current exhibition in the series, referred to as BAS6, is touring a number of major cities within England in 2005 and 2006. Each time it is organised, the show tours to three UK...
at Hayward Gallery
Hayward Gallery
The Hayward Gallery is an art gallery within the Southbank Centre, part of an area of major arts venues on the South Bank of the River Thames, in central London, England. It is sited adjacent to the other Southbank Centre buildings and also the Royal National Theatre and British Film Institute...
includes work by Young British Artists
Young British Artists
Young British Artists or YBAs is the name given to a loose group of visual artists who first began to exhibit together in London, in 1988...
Works
- Peine Del Viento XVII – Eduardo ChillidaEduardo ChillidaEduardo Chillida Juantegui, or Eduardo Txillida Juantegi in Basque, was a Spanish Basque sculptor notable for his monumental abstract works.-Early life and career:...
- Desert Quartet – Elisabeth FrinkElisabeth FrinkDame Elisabeth Jean Frink, DBE, CH, RA was an English sculptor and printmaker...
(WorthingWorthingWorthing is a large seaside town with borough status in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, forming part of the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation. It is situated at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of the county town of Chichester...
, EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
) - Meaning and Location – Douglas GordonDouglas GordonDouglas Gordon is a Scottish artist; he won the Turner Prize in 1996 and the following year he represented Britain at the Venice Biennale...
- A Thousand Years – Damien HirstDamien HirstDamien Steven Hirst is an English artist, entrepreneur and art collector. He is the most prominent member of the group known as the Young British Artists , who dominated the art scene in Britain during the 1990s. He is internationally renowned, and is reportedly Britain's richest living artist,...
- September Defeat – Tadeusz KantorTadeusz KantorTadeusz Kantor was a Polish painter, assemblage artist, set designer and theatre director. Kantor is renowned for his revolutionary theatrical performances in Poland and abroad.- Life and career :...
January to June
- 22 January – Roman VishniacRoman VishniacRoman Vishniac was a Russian-American photographer, best known for capturing on film the culture of Jews in Central and Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. A complete archive of his work now rests at the International Center of Photography....
, Russian-American photographer (b. 18971897 in art-Works:*Paul Gauguin - Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?*Jean-Jacques Henner - Portrait of Mlle Fouquier*Camille Pissarro - Boulevard Montmartre*Maurice Prendergast - Summer Visitors...
). - 16 February – Keith HaringKeith HaringKeith Haring was an artist and social activist whose work responded to the New York City street culture of the 1980s.-Early life:...
, American artist and social activist (b. 19581958 in art-Awards:*Archibald Prize: William Edwin Pidgeon - Mr Ray Walker*Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Allied Arts Medal - Louis Archambault-Events:*Robert Frank publishes his photographic essay The Americans -Exhibitions:...
). - 21 April – Romain de TirtoffRomain de TirtoffRomain de Tirtoff was a Russian-born French artist and designer known by the pseudonym Erté, the French pronunciation of his initials, R.T. He was a diversely-talented 20th century artist and designer who flourished in an array of fields, including fashion, jewellery, graphic arts, costume and...
, Russian-born French artistArtistAn artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
and designer (b. 18921892 in art-Events:* May - The Brotherhood of The Linked Ring is founded by Henry Peach Robinson in England to promote photography as a fine art.-Paintings:*John Collier - Lilith*James Ensor - Man of Sorrows...
). - 30 June – Jacques LobJacques LobJacques Lob was a French comic book creator, known for several Franco-Belgian comics creations, but most famously Superdupont.-Biography:...
, French comic book creatorComic book creatorA comic book creator is someone who creates a comic book or graphic novel.The production of a comic book by one of the major comic book companies in the U.S...
(b. 19321932 in art-Events:*Alvar Aalto designs a new form of laminated bent-plywood furniture.*Courtauld Institute of Art is founded in London.*The Wedgwood pottery firm commissions its first designs from Keith Murray.-Paintings:*Frank Brangwyn - British Empire Panels...
).
July to December
- 18 July – Yves ChalandYves ChalandYves Chaland was a French cartoonist.During the 1980s, together with Ted Benoît, Serge Clerc and Floc'h, he relaunched the Ligne claire style in French comics.-Biography:Chaland published his first strips in the fanzine Biblipop when he...
, French cartoonistCartoonistA cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
(b. 19571957 in art-Events:*Chicago's Lithuanian community opens the Čiurlionis Art Gallery.*John Lennon enrols at Liverpool College of Art.-Works:*Maurice Boitel - The Hens*Paul-Émile Borduas - Étoile noire*Arthur Boyd - Dreaming Bridegroom 1...
). - 23 July – Pierre GandonPierre GandonPierre Gandon was a French illustrator and engraver of postage stamps. He was born January 20, 1899 in L'Haÿ-les-Roses and died July 23, 1990.-Youth:...
, French illustrator and engraver of postage stampPostage stampA postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
s (b. 18991899 in art-Works:*Pierre Bonnard - Little Girl with a Cat*Jules Dalou - Monument à Alphand*Paul Gauguin - Two Women*William Harnett - Violin*Peder Severin Krøyer - Summer evening by Skagen's beach. Artist and his wife...
). - 25 July – Leonard BahrLeonard BahrLeonard Marion Bahr was a prolific painter of portraits and murals, an illustrator, as well as a highly regarded painting professor for 52 years at the Maryland Institute College of Art ....
, American portrait and mural painter (b. 19051905 in art-Events:* October - The Fauvist artists, notably Henri Matisse, first exhibit, at the Salon d'Automne in Paris.* The Art Deco movement begins in France.* Léon Bonnat succeeds Paul Dubois as director of the Ecole des Beaux Arts....
). - 14 October – Clifton PughClifton PughClifton Ernest Pugh AO, was an Australian artist and three-time winner of Australia's Archibald Prize. He was strongly influenced by German Expressionism, and was known for his landscapes and portraiture...
, Australian artist (b. 19241924 in art-Events:*February - El Lissitzky enters a Swiss sanatorium, suffering from tuberculosis.*December - The Bucharest International Modern Art Exhibit, an avant-garde event hosted by Contimporanul, displaying works by Constantin Brâncuşi, Hans Arp, Paul Klee, János Mattis-Teutsch, Kurt Schwitters,...
). - 26 October – Joan BrownJoan BrownJoan Brown was an American figurative painter who lived and worked in Northern California. She was a notable member of the "second generation" of the Bay Area Figurative Movement....
, American figurative painter (b. 19381938 in art-Events:* Albert Namatjira exhibition in Melbourne includes over 2,000 works.* American art collector Louis J. Caldor 'discovers' Grandma Moses.-Paintings:*Rita Angus - Head of a Maori Boy*William Coldstream - Bolton*Arthur Dove - Swing Music...
). - 8 December – Tadeusz KantorTadeusz KantorTadeusz Kantor was a Polish painter, assemblage artist, set designer and theatre director. Kantor is renowned for his revolutionary theatrical performances in Poland and abroad.- Life and career :...
, Polish painterPaintingPainting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
, assemblageAssemblage (art)Assemblage is an artistic process. In the visual arts, it consists of making three-dimensional or two-dimensional artistic compositions by putting together found objects...
artist, set designer and theatre director (b. 19151915 in art-Events:*Harper's Bazaar hires Erté to design its covers.*Ambrose Heal and others found the Design and Industries Association in London.*The only Vorticist exhibition is staged, at the Doré Gallery in London..-Works:*Frank Weston Benson - Red and Gold...
). - 23 December – Serge DanotSerge DanotSerge Danot was a French animator and former advertising executive.Danot was born in Nantes, France. He is best known for creating the animated series, Le Manège enchanté in 1965, which became known in its English-language version, written and narrated by actor Eric Thompson for the BBC , asThe...
, French animator (b. 19311931 in art-Events:*The Whitney Museum of American Art is founded by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney.*October 4 - Debut appearance of the Dick Tracy comic strip, created by cartoonist Chester Gould.-Works:*Max Beckmann - Paris Society...
).
Full date unknown
- Daniel du JanerandDaniel du JanerandDaniel du Janerand was a French painter artistborn in the "Marais", center of Paris, on 18 July 1919.-Artistic life:*École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris;*Member founder of the Salon "Comparaisons";...
, French painter (b. 19191919 in art-Events:* Walter Gropius founds the Bauhaus.* Seven and Five Society established in London.-Works:*Evelyn De Morgan - The Gilded Cage*Aleksandra Ekster - City at Night*Max Ernst - Aquis Submersus...
). - Fuller PotterFuller PotterFuller Potter was an American Abstract expressionist artist. He was born in New York City in 1910, attended St. Bernard's School in New York and Groton School in Groton, Massachusetts, and lived most of his life in his Ledyard, Connecticut estate, near Old Mystic...
, American Abstract expressionistAbstract expressionismAbstract expressionism was an American post–World War II art movement. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve worldwide influence and put New York City at the center of the western art world, a role formerly filled by Paris...
artist (b. 19101910 in art-Events:*Robert Delaunay marries Sonia Terk.*Bronze sculptor Robert Kionsek joins the Berlin workshop of Ferdinand Preiss to form the PK firm; the two men combine their specialties to produce sculptures in bronze and ivory.-Exhibitions:...
).