1997 in art

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Events

• January 27 – It is revealed that French museums have nearly 2,000 pieces of art that had been stolen by Nazis.
• March 6 – Pablo Picasso's Tête de Femme is stolen from a London gallery. It is recovered a week later.
• April 27 – Andrew Cunanan murders Jeffrey Trail, beginning a murder spree that will last until July and end with the murder of fashion designer Gianni Versace.
• September 8 - Marcus Harvey's controversial painting of Myra Hindley goes on display at the Royal Academy of Art in London and is vandalised twice, by two different artists, on the opening day.
• October 18 – Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, designed by Frank Gehry, is opened.

Full date unknown

• Puppy by Jeff Koons is moved from Sydney Harbour to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.
• Robert Colescott becomes the first African-American to represent the United States in a solo exhibition at the Venice Biennial.
• Patricia Martín conceives La Colección Jumex in Mexico City.

Exhibitions

• Sensation opens at the Royal Academy of Art in London.
• Kate and Helen Storey's Primitive Streak opens at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London.
• Documenta X opens in Kassel.

Awards

• Archibald Prize – Nigel Thomson, Barbara Blackman
• Schock Prize in Visual Arts – Torsten Andersson
• Turner Prize – Gillian Wearing

-The Venice Biennial-

• The Lion d'or (Golden Lion) for Lifetime Achievement: Emilio Vedova (Italy), Agnes Martin (USA)
• The Lion d'or for Best Pavilion: France exhibiting the work of Fabrice Hyber

Artworks

See also: Category:1997 paintings and Category:1997 sculptures

• Eye Benches I, II and III, Seattle
• Bearing Witness (sculpture), Washington, D.C.
• Garden Wreath, Portland, Oregon
• Gurkha Memorial, London
• Lucian Freud – Eight Months Gone
• Antony Gormley – Another Place (sculpture)
• Sarah Lucas – Bunny Gets Snookered (installation, including Pauline Bunny)
• Ron Mueck – Dead Dad, Angel, Big Baby II and III, Man in a Sheet and Mask (Self Portrait) (sculptures)
• Odd Nerdrum
  • The Savior of Painting
  • Self-Portrait in Golden Cape
• Cornelia Parker
  • Mass (Colder Darker Matter) (installation)
  • The Negative of Whispers (sculpture of found material)
  • Pornographic Drawings
• Gillian Wearing – 10–16 (video)

Deaths

January to June

• January 25 – Dan Barry, American cartoonist (b. 1923)
• February 2 – Theodoros Stamos, Greek American abstract expressionist painter (b.1922).
• March 7 – Martin Kippenberger, German artist (b.1953).
• March 11 – Sam Golden, paint maker (b.1915).
• March 15 – Victor Vasarely, Hungarian-French artist (b.1906).
• March 19 – Willem de Kooning, Dutch born American abstract expressionist painter (b.1904).
• April 16 – Roland Topor, French illustrator, painter, writer and filmmaker (b.1938).
• April 20 – Jean Louis, French costume designer (b.1907).
• April 22 – Reg Gammon, English painter and illustrator (b.1894)
• May 23 – James Lee Byars, American artist (b.1932).

July to December

• July 15 – Gianni Versace, Italian fashion designer, murdered (b.1946).
• July 16 – Dora Maar, French photographer, poet and painter, lover of Pablo Picasso (b.1907).
• August 4 – Tom Eckersley, English poster artist (b.1914)
• September 6 – Jean-Pierre Sudre, French photographer (b.1921)
• September 29 – Roy Lichtenstein, American pop artist (b.1923).
• October 22 – Leonid Amalrik, Russian animator and animation director (b.1905).
• October 23 – Claire Falkenstein, American sculptor and painter (b.1908).
• December 16 – Lillian Disney, American artist and wife of Walt Disney (b.1899).

Full date unknown

• Jean Pierre Capron, French painter (b.1921).