Israeli Artist Yaacov Agam, Known for His Optical and Kinetic Artworks, Has Died at 98
ARTnews reported that Israeli optical and kinetic artist Yaacov Agam died at age 98, with the news covered by outlets including the Times of Israel, Haaretz, and the Jerusalem Post. Born Yaacov Gipstein in Rishon LeZion in 1928, he studied in Jerusalem, moved to Zurich in 1949 to study with Johannes Itten, and relocated to Paris in 1951, where he lived until his death. Agam debuted in a 1953 solo show at Galerie Craven in Paris and became known for lenticular works he called “Agamographs” and for “Transformable Pictures,” later participating in the 1955 “Movement” exhibition at Galerie Denise René and MoMA’s 1964 “The Responsive Eye.” His public commissions included a large menorah designed in 1977 for annual installation at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street in Manhattan during Hanukkah and a 1979 kinetic Star of Peace commemorating the peacemaking efforts of Anwar el-Sādāt and Menachem Begin; he also received UNESCO’s 1996 Prize for Arts Education and the Jan Amos Comenius Medal, and he was awarded the Israel Prize for Visual Arts earlier this year.
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This story was covered in Blockbuster Museums, Hot Markets, and Missing Masterpieces