MetaFilter posts tagged with obituary and art

A beetle in a model's ear. Photographer/artist Irving Penn has passed on.

flapjax at midnite — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:22:23 -0800

"The quest to undercut fashion’s standards of perfection, and to find beauty in the disdained, overlooked or overripe, runs throughout Mr. Penn’s career. In an otherwise pristine still life of food, he included a house fly, and in a 1959 close-up, he placed a beetle in a model’s ear." So long, Irving Penn.

Installation with mirror, headstone and chair

infinitefloatingbrains — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:44:29 -0800

Dash Snow, seminal artist, is dead of an overdose. Born into art world royalty, Dash was the great-grandson of prominent collector Dominique de Ménil. On the streets at 13, Dash gained notoriety for his graffiti as 'Sace' and his antics with the Irak crew. Famously profiled in a 2007 NYMag article, his debauched art was a reflection of his rough existence and vitality. While contemporaries and dealers are quick to cement his status as an icon, others reserve a far harsher judgement. He is survived by all of Manhattan. Previously

No hammer shall ring out its joyful song today.

1f2frfbf — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:20:09 -0800

Renowned blacksmith, Phillip Simmons, of Charleston, SC has died at age 98. Mr. Simmons was a link to a past that is rapidly vanishing along the South Carolina coast. A man who came up in the apprentice system and worked in the era when blacksmiths were the handymen of their communities, repairing and creating from raw metal the objects of everyday life, through to the present day where his work is now seen as fine art and displayed in galleries and museums. More information about him and images of his work can be seen at his website including an interactive map of where his works can be found. A gallery of him and his works can be found at Charleston Magazine along with an interview with one few the founders of the foundation attempting to preserve his work. An article on his workshop can be found at the National Trust, which is attempting to preserve it.

Pirkle Jones, 1914-2009

scody — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:00:51 -0800

Photographer Pirkle Jones, best known for his images of California's migrant workers and changing landscape (including a collaboration with Dorothea Lange) and his iconic Black Panther pictures, has died at 95.

Drawing Rock Music

terrapin — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:09:52 -0800

Legendary artist Alton Kelley created a graphic style that rocked the world beginning in the psychedelic sixties. His concert posters, logo designs, LP album covers, and fine art have forevermore defined that time. Kelley passed away peacefully at home on Sunday, June 1, 2008 of complications from a long illness.

Elizabeth Murray

R. Mutt — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 20:19:38 -0800

Elizabeth Murray, a New York painter who reshaped Modernist abstraction into a high-spirited, cartoon-based, language of form whose subjects included domestic life, relationships and the nature of painting itself, died yesterday at her home in upstate New York. (Images)

George Melly RIP

motty — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 03:48:36 -0800

George Melly, singer, writer, and expert on Surrealism, has passed away aged 80.

Rudy Autio, RIP

ikahime — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 12:29:00 -0800

Rudy Autio, the Matisse of the ceramics world, has passed away at age 70. Born in 1926 to a Finnish family in ethnically diverse and bustling Butte, Montana, Rudy went on to study ceramics with Frances Senska at MSU. There he met future ceramics titan, Peter Voulkos, and became founding residents of the Archie Bray Foundation. Because of their revolutionary work, the 2 of them helped bring recognition to a field that had previously only been considered craft. Autio's giant torso-shaped vessels are often decorated with post-impressionistic horses and dancing women, but he also ventured into printmaking, tapestry design and murals. According to Ken Little, "If the ceramics world had a Mount Rushmore, it would be Peter Voulkos, Rudy, Paul Soldner and Don Reitz."

Khalil al-Zahawi, RIP

psmealey — Tue, 29 May 2007 15:18:04 -0800

Famed Arabic calligrapher Khalil al-Zahawi murdered. (Arabic: خليل الزهاوي‎; 1946 - 25 May 2007) Khalil al-Zahawi was the most famous practitioner in Iraq of the art of writing classical Arabic script. He was shot to death Friday as he left his home.

Oh Mr Hart!

tellurian — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 18:30:15 -0800

Australian artist Pro Hart has died. Hart used DNA in his paintings to foil counterfeiters. Sometimes he painted with a cannon, other times with a plane.

R.I.P. Will Eisner

Jeffy — Tue, 04 Jan 2005 07:23:29 -0800

Will Eisner Dies at age 86 The father of the modern Graphic Novel and hugely influential comics figure has died today from heart surgery complications. His concept of Sequential Art helped move comics out of the idea of being solely "kid's stuff" and was seen as a cannon in the comic art world. He was working on a book called "The Plot" due out later this year. He will be missed. More info and Eisner Bio at Newsarama

les Français n'aiment pas le Publicité

Sticherbeast — Tue, 07 Dec 2004 07:42:51 -0800

SA VI GN AC. Welcome to the world of Raymond Savignac, the greatest poster artist of all time, and inventor of the little Bic man. Joyous, naughty, simple, elegant, and beautiful.

RIP Richard Avedon.

Civil_Disobedient — Fri, 01 Oct 2004 12:47:43 -0800

Another master taken: Richard Avedon, dead at 81. Arguably the greatest portrait photographer in history, Avedon was famous not only for his fashion or celebrity shots, but also his interest in the common man, best emphasized by the book "In the American West". He was recently working on a piece, "On Democracy" when he suffered a brain hemorrhage. Many may be familiar with his simple black & white on white style from his shots for the New Yorker (he was their first staff photographer). His site is currently shrouded in respect.

forum morbid

of strange foe — Wed, 04 Aug 2004 13:00:13 -0800

Henri Cartier-Bresson is gone. As I was dithering about whether to introduce a double post , google served up this neat little link; and they even have stiff competition. Creepy or handy?

Photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson dies

diVersify — Wed, 04 Aug 2004 12:57:31 -0800

Photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson dies.
Henri Cartier-Bresson was a huge influence in my life and career as a photographer. Proponent of The Decisive Moment (sample), The Decisive Moment (description). He also co-founded the Magnum Photos agency with Robert Capa and David Seymore. Check out the Retrospective.

Wesley Willis dead at 40 from Leukemia

car_bomb — Fri, 22 Aug 2003 11:26:26 -0800

Wesley Willis: Rock and roll star, artist, poet, movie star and friend to all he met passed away last night from Leukemia at the age of 40. The six foot five, 320 pound Chicago area musician who cut his teeth on the streets selling city landscape drawings and playing music on his tiny Casio keyboard was infamous for his raw insightful songs and ability to draw his audiences into a schizophrenic's take on reality.

Bill Mauldin, Cartoonist

turbodog — Wed, 22 Jan 2003 23:23:18 -0800

Cartoonist Bill Mauldin Dead at 81. Mauldin was the creator of the every-GIs Willie and Joe during WWII and twice won the Pulitzer Prize.

RJ Reynolds — Fri, 26 Apr 2002 09:31:39 -0800

Frank Moore [NYT], the originator of the red ribbon, died of AIDS last week. His gorgeous paintings depicted politics from Yosemite to Versace. As one of the few incredibly contemporary but still publicly accessible artists, he will be missed.

ed — Wed, 18 Apr 2001 15:15:46 -0800

The man behind Woman in the Dunes has passed away. Filmmaker Hiroshi Teshigahara died on Saturday with nary a press announcement. I haven't been this pissed off about a media blackout since Sam Fuller passed on (or, to some extent, the recent death of Joey Ramone). Is the only way for an obscure artist to gain that long-neglected recognition for their works to kick the bucket? It would seem that, even then, there are no guarantees.