Influential Conceptual Artist John Baldessari Dead at 88
The decorated artist cemented his legacy across surrealist sculptures, paintings, and more.
One of the most revered American conceptual artists, John Baldessari, has passed away at the age of 88. Gallerist Marian Goodman, whose namesake gallery represented Baldessari, confirmed his death this past Sunday on Twitter. Goodman expressed on social media that the artist was “intelligent, loving, and incomparable.”
His signature paintings featured colorful dots placed over the faces of subjects across portraits and found images. Beyond painting, the artist also engaged with sculpture with his large-scale Beethoven’s Trumpet (with Ear) Opus series of sculptures being one of his most unmistakable creations (one of them is depicted below).
John Baldessari’s ‘beethoven’s Trumpet (with Ear) Opus # 133’; Photo: Anthony Wallace/Afp Via Getty Images
Over his six-decade career as a professional artist, Baldessari was spotlighted in over 200 solo exhibitions and 1,000 group shows. He is widely recognized for being one of the leading figures of the Conceptualism movement, having inspired a generation of radical-thinking artists including Barbara Kruger, David Salle, among many others.
In 2014, the artist was given the National Medal of Arts by former U.S. president Barack Obama for his widespread influence in the arts. He also won the Golden Lion Award for Lifetime Achievement at the prestigious Venice Biennale back in 2009, as reported by CNN.
Get a closer look at Baldessari’s prolific oeuvre by visiting Marian Goodman Gallery’s website.
