2012 in art explained

The year 2012 in art involves some significant events.

Events

• January – Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum extension in Boston, Massachusetts, designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop, is opened^[1]
• February – Extension to Städel art gallery in Frankfurt, Germany, designed by schneider+schumacher, scheduled for opening^{[1] [2]}
• March – The Palm Springs Art Museum opens a satellite museum in Palm Desert^[3]
• March – The Jerwood Gallery in Hastings opens^[4]
• March – A large trove of art is discovered in Munich, part of which was looted by the Nazis. German authorities only acknowledge the discovery after press reports in November 2013^[5]
• March 29 – Refurbished and renamed Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney, with new Mordant Wing designed by Sam Marshall, opened^{[1] [6]}
• May 1 – One of four versions of The Scream by Edvard Munch sells at Sotheby's in New York City for $119.9 million including the buyer's commission, the most ever paid for a work of art at auction^[7]
• May 10 – God Speed by Edmund Leighton is sold to a private collector through Sotheby's in London^[8]
• May 11 – ArcelorMittal Orbit sculpture and observation tower (114.50NaN0 tall) in Olympic Park, London, designed by Anish Kapoor with Cecil Balmond and Ushida Findlay Architects, unveiled^[9]
• May 29 – Tate Britain announces that it has received a donation of nine works of art dating from the 1960s–90s from the private collection of Mercedes and Ian Stoutzker^[10]
• July 17 - Odalisque in Red Pants by Henri Matisse which was stolen off the wall at the Contemporary Art Museum of Caracas in the capital city of Venezuela and replaced with a forgery inside of its former frame is recovered in an FBI sting operation in Miami, Florida.^[11]
• July 18 – Tate Modern, London, opens The Tanks performance art/installation space, refurbished by Herzog & de Meuron^[12]
• July 27
  • 08:12 – Martin Creed's Work No 1197: All the bells in a country rung as quickly and as loudly as possible for three minutes is performed across the United Kingdom to mark the opening of the 2012 Summer Olympics^[13]
  • 21:00 – Performance of Isles of Wonder, the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in London directed by Danny Boyle, begins^[14]
• August 12 – Damien Hirst's representation of the British Union Flag forms the arena centrepiece for the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in London.^[15] Es Devlin is designer for the ceremony^[16] and the creative director and choreographer is Kim Gavin^{[17] [18] [19]}
• September - The Museo Alameda in San Antonio, Texas, U.S.A. closes ^[20]
• September 21 – Islamic art gallery at the Musée du Louvre in Paris, designed by Mario Bellini and Rudy Ricciotti, opens^{[1] [21]}
• September 23 – Renovation and new wing for Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, designed by Benthem Crouwel Architekten, opened to public^{[1] [22]}
• September 27 – The "Isleworth Mona Lisa" is unveiled to the public for the first time in 40 years^[23]
• October 1 (National Day of the People's Republic of China) – China Art Museum and the Power Station of Art open in the former China pavilion at Expo 2010 in Shanghai to house exhibitions of contemporary Chinese art
• November – The auction house Sotheby's removes Cady Noland's piece Cowboys Milking (1990) from their contemporary sale after the artist "disavows" the work. Both Noland and the auction house are then sued by the piece's owner, gallerist Marc Jancou for twenty six million dollars (with twenty million being sought from Noland and six from Sotheby's)^[24] but a judge dismisses Jancou's lawsuit^[25]
• December 11 – Le Louvre-Lens, a branch museum of the Musée du Louvre, designed by SANAA, opens in the French city of Lens, Pas-de-Calais, a former centre of coal mining^[26]

Exhibitions

• To January 9 – "de Kooning: A Retrospective" at the Museum of Modern Art, New York^[27]
• To February 5 – "Leonardo da Vinci, Painter at the Court of Milan" at the National Gallery, London^[28]
• To February 12 – "Johann Zoffany RA: Society Observed" at the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut (then at the Royal Academy, London from March 10 to June 10)^[29]
• January 21 until April 9 – "David Hockney: A Bigger Picture" at the Royal Academy, London^[30]
• January 27 until May 13 - No Lone Zone (works by Teresa Margolles, Cinthia Marcelle, David Zink Yi, and Tercerunquinto) at the Tate Modern in London, UK.^[31]
• February 1 until May 6 – "Van Gogh Up Close" at the Philadelphia Museum of Art^[32]
• February 9 until May 27 – "Lucian Freud Portraits" at the National Portrait Gallery, London^[33]
• February 11 until April 1 "Three From Cuba: The Art of Vicente, Miguel and Sandro - The Fantastic to the Sublime" (Vicente Hernandez, Sandro de la Rosa, Miguel Florido) at the Appleton Museum of Art in Ocala, Florida.^[34]
• February 15 until May 27 - "Van Dyck in Sicily" at the Dulwich Picture Gallery in Dulwich, South London, England.^[35]
• February 15 until July 15 – "Picasso & Modern British Art" at Tate Britain, London (then at Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh from August 4 until November 4)^[36]
• March 13 until July 1 – "Degas et le Nu" at the Musée d'Orsay, Paris^[37]
• March 14 until June 5 – "Turner Inspired in the Light of Claude" at the National Gallery, London^[38]
• From March 15 – "Rodin to Now: Modern Sculpture" at the Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Desert^[3]
• April 4 until July 20 - "The Ideal City: The Renaissance Utopia at Urbino between Piero della Francesca and Raphael” at the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche in Urbino, Italy^{[39] [40]}
• April 4 until September 9 – "Damien Hirst" at Tate Modern, London^[41]
• From April 7 until July 29 - "Fracture: Daido Moriyama" at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, curated by Edward Robinson.^[42]
• From June 9 until September 2 – Picturing the South, photographs by Martin Parr, Kael Alford, and Shane Lavalette^[43]
• From June 28 until October 14 – "Edvard Munch: The Modern Eye" at Tate Modern, London^[44]
• From August 18 – "India: Art Now" at the Arken Museum of Modern Art, Copenhagen^[45]
• From September 9 – "Arte Povera: The Great Awakening" at the Kunstmuseum Basel^[45]
• From September 12 – "Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde" at Tate Britain, London^[46]
• From September 15 until December 9 – "Bronze" at the Royal Academy, London^[45]
• From September 16 – "Ken Price Sculpture: A Retrospective" at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art^[47]
• From September 18 – "Regarding Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York^[45]
• From September 20 until November 18 – "Discovering Columbus" by Tatzu Nishi at Columbus Circle in New York City, New York^[48]
• From September 28 – "Paul Gauguin: The Prints" at the Kunsthaus Zürich^[45]
• From October 5 – "Picasso Black and White" at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York^[45]
• From October 10 – "Richard Hamilton: The Late Works" at the National Gallery, London^[45]
• From October 13 – "Seduced by Art: Photography Past and Present" at the National Gallery, London
• From November 15 – "George Bellows" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York^[49]
• From November 18 – "Tokyo 1955–1970: A New Avant-Garde" at the Museum of Modern Art New York City, New York^[50]
• From December 4 – "Matisse: In Search of True Painting" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Works

• El Anatsui – "Broken Bridge ll" (pressed tin and broken mirrors) along the High Line on the western wall between west 21st street and west 22nd street in Manhattan, New York City.^[51]
• David Kimball Anderson - "Hydrogen snd Nitrogen" (sculpture)^[52]
• Julius von Bismarck and Julian Charrière - "Some Pigeons are more Equal than Others" executed at the Venice Biennale of Architecture and then in Copenhagen^{[53] [54]}
• Monica Bonvicini – Run (installation in Olympic Park, London)^{[55] [56]}
• David Breuer-Weil – Alien (sculpture)
• Berlinde De Bruyckere - "We are All Flesh" (sculpture)^[57]
• Carlos Cruz-Diez – "Double Induction in a Chromatic Frequency" mosaic tiled walkways at Marlins Park in Miami, Florida^{[58] [59]}
• Anya Gallaccio – The Light Pours Out of Me (installation)^[60]
• Annie Han and Daniel Mihalyo – (sculpture, Portland, Oregon)
• Ralph Heimans – Portrait of Queen Elizabeth II
• Damien Hirst – Verity (20.25 m (66 ft) bronze statue of a pregnant woman holding a sword aloft, erected at Ilfracombe, England, October 17)^[61]
• Celia Paul – Painter and Model (self-portrait)
• John Howard Sanden – Laura Welch Bush
• Jud Turner – Great Blue Heron (sculpture, Eugene, Oregon)
• Danh Vo - I M U U R 2'x^[62]
• Henry Weber - Statue of Tony DeMarco in the North End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts^[63]

Awards

• Archibald Prize - Tim Storrier for "The Histrionic Wayfarer (after Bosch) (Self portrait)"^[64]
• Artes Mundi Prize - Teresa Margolles
• Henry Hope Reed Award for classical art and design – Elizabeth Barlow Rogers^[65]
• Hugo Boss Prize – Danh Vo
• John Moores Painting Prize - Sarah Pickstone for "Stevie Smith and the Willow"^[66]

Films

• Girl With Black Balloons^[67]
• Mark Lombardi - Death-Defying Acts of Art and Conspiracy^[68]

Deaths

• January 1
  • Jan Groover, 68, American photographer
  • Hermann Guggiari, 87, Paraguayan sculptor
• January 3 – Winifred Milius Lubell, 97, American illustrator and writer
• January 4 – Eve Arnold, 99, American photographer
• January 19 – Peter de Francia, 90, French-English painter and illustrator
• January 31
  • Mike Kelley (body found on this date), 57, American artist and musician (Destroy All Monsters)
  • Dorothea Tanning, 101, American surrealist painter, printmaker, and sculptor.
• February 3 – Jorge Glusberg, 79, Argentine author and director of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes MNBA
• February 6
  • Yasuhiro Ishimoto, 91, Japanese-American photographer
  • Antoni Tàpies, 88, Spanish painter, sculptor and art theorist.
• February 8- Theophilus Brown, 92, American painter
• February 18 – Matt Lamb, 79, American painter
• February 24 – Kenneth Price, 77, American ceramicist, sculptor
• March 8 – Minoru Mori, 77, Japanese founder of the Mori Art Museum
• March 16 – Anita Steckel, 82, American feminist artist
• March 27 – Hilton Kramer, 84, American art critic
• April 2 – Elizabeth Catlett, 96, American born Mexican sculptor and printmaker
• April 6 – Thomas Kinkade, 54, American painter
  • • April 9 Richard Beyer, 86, American sculptor
  • John Golding, 82, British artist, art scholar and curator
• April 12 – John Weaver, 92, Canadian sculptor
• April 19 - Enrico Pedrini, 72, Italian academic, theorist, and art collector
• April 25- Louis le Brocquy, 95, Irish painter
• April 27 – David Weiss (Fischli & Weiss), 65, Swiss artist
• May 2 - Bram Bogart, 90, Dutch born Belgian painter
• May 11 – Tony DeZuniga, 79, Filipino illustrator
• May 15 – George Wyllie, 90, Scottish artist
• May 30 – Barton Lidice Beneš, 69, American artist
• June 9 – Paul Jenkins, 88, American painter
• June 10 – Georges Mathieu, 91, French painter
• June 20 – LeRoy Neiman, 91, American painter
• June 22 – Mary Fedden, 96, British painter
• June 28 – Ivan Karp, 86, American art dealer
• July 22 – Herbert Vogel, 89, American art collector
• July 25 – Franz West, 65, Austrian painter and sculptor
• July 26 – Karl Benjamin, 86, American painter
• July 28 – Adam Cullen, 46, Australian painter
• August 6 – Robert Hughes, 74, Australian-born art critic
• August 9 – Jan Sawka, 65, Polish-born American artist and architect
• August 21 – Hans Josephsohn, 92, German-born Swiss sculptor
• September 8 – Mario Armond Zamparelli, 81, American artist and designer
• September 11 – Tony Goldman, 68, American real estate developer, art impresario, and preservationist
• September 14 – Don Binney, 72, New Zealand painter
• September 29 – Mark Wiener, 61, American painter
• October 6 – Raoul De Keyser, Belgian painter
• October 11 – Edgar Negret, 92, Colombian sculptor
• October 15 - Michael Asher, 69, American conceptual artist
• October 30 – Lebbeus Woods, 72, American artist and architect
• November 13 – Will Barnet, 101, American painter
• November 16 – William Turnbull, 90, Scottish artist
• November 17 – Arnaud Maggs, 86, Canadian artist and photographer
• December 15 – Jeffrey Potter, 94, writer, authored a biography of Jackson Pollock
• December 20 – Robert Juniper, 83, Australian artist
• December 29 – Edward Meneeley, 85, American painter, sculptor and printmaker

Notes and References

1. Dale. Kneen. Starchitects In Our Eyes. High Life. British Airways. Summer 2012. 16–17.
2. Web site: Die Erweiterung des Städel Museums. Städel Museum. 2012-10-14.
3. Web site: The State of Sculpture at Palm Springs Art Museum . https://archive.today/20120910205406/http://www.nyartsmagazine.com/reviewed/the-state-of-sculpture-at-palm-springs-art-museum/ . dead . 2012-09-10 . Lee . Klein . NY Arts . 2012 . 2012-07-27 .
4. News: Jerwood Gallery opening in Hastings attracts 2,000. BBC News. 19 March 2012. 24 October 2012.
5. News: Nazi looted art 'found in Munich'. BBC News. 3 November 2013. 27 November 2013.
6. News: Ginanne. Brownell. 2012-03-20. A Makeover for Contemporary Art in Sydney. 2012-10-14. The New York Times.
7. News: 'The Scream' Sells for Nearly $120 Million at Sotheby's Auction. The New York Times. Carol. Vogel. 2012-05-02.
8. Web site: Lot 26 . Sotheby's. 28 June 2014.
9. News: Anish Kapoor's Orbit tower: the mother of all helter-skelters. Tim. Adams. The Guardian. London. 2012-05-05. 2013-12-03.
10. News: Tate galleries given modern art collection. BBC News. 2012-05-29. 2012-05-29.
11. News: Topless Woman Found. Details Sketchy.. William. Neuman. The New York Times. July 20, 2012.
12. News: Richard. Dorment. Tate Tanks, Tate Modern, review. The Daily Telegraph. London. 2012-07-16. 2012-07-17.
13. News: Mass bell-ringing heralds Olympics opening. BBC News. 2012-07-27. 2012-07-27.
14. Web site: Isles of Wonder. Official site of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. 2012-07-27. 2012-07-29.
15. News: Richard. Williams. A raucous but poignant pageant of popular culture closes the Games. The Guardian. London. 2012-08-13. 2–3. 2012-08-13.
16. News: Daisy. Bowie-Sell. Es Devlin: profile of Cultural Olympiad Designer. The Daily Telegraph. 2011-02-18. 2012-08-13. London.
17. News: Profile: Kim Gavin, director of Olympic closing ceremony. BBC News. 2012-08-10. 2012-08-11.
18. News: Kim Gavin: profile of Cultural Olympiad ceremony director. The Daily Telegraph. 2011-02-18. 2012-08-11. London.
19. Web site: Home. Kimgavin.com. 2012-06-29.
20. Web site: Museo Alameda says goodbye. 25 September 2012. mySA. 15 April 2023.
21. News: Gareth. Harris. 2012-09-13. Islamic art, covered. Financial Times. 2012-10-11.
22. Web site: Stedelijk Museum Opens September 23rd. Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. 2012-09-23. 2012-10-14.
23. Web site: Matthew. Rosenbaum. Second Mona Lisa Unveiled for First Time in 40 Years. ABC News. 2012-09-27. 2013-08-06.
24. Web site: Duray. Dan. 2012-02-10. Dealer Marc Jancou Sues Sotheby's, Cady Noland for $26 M. Gallerist NY. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120211152952/http://galleristny.com/2012/02/dealer-marc-jancou-sues-sothebys-cady-noland-for-26-million/. 2012-02-11. 2021-11-11. galleristny.com.
25. Web site: Judge Dismisses Marc Jancou's Lawsuit Against Sotheby's ARTINFO\'s Commentary on the Art Market ARTINFO.com . 2013-03-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150626131531/http://blogs.artinfo.com/abovetheestimate/2012/11/14/judge-dismisses-marc-jancous-lawsuit-against-sothebys/ . 2015-06-26 . dead .
26. News: Angelique. Chrisafis. Louvre opens 'glass river' on Lens slagheap. The Guardian. 2012-12-04. 2012-12-04. London.
27. Web site: de Kooning: A Retrospective MoMA . The Museum of Modern Art . 18 September 2021 . en.
28. Web site: Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan Exhibitions and displays What's on National Gallery . 2012-04-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120424123744/http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/leonardo-da-vinci-painter-at-the-court-of-milan . 2012-04-24 . dead .
29. Web site: Johan Zoffany RA: Society Observed | Yale Center for British Art .
30. Web site: David Hockney RA: A Bigger Picture - Exhibitions - Royal Academy of Arts . 2012-04-17 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120419124634/http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibitions/hockney . 2012-04-19 .
31. Web site: Tate Modern: No Lone Zone Art Exhibitions, Installation Art, Latin American Art, Political Art, Video Installation Globalization, Nature, Political, TATE Modern, Teresa Margolles, Violence Contemporary Art . https://web.archive.org/web/20150303081633/http://www.marthagarzon.com/contemporary_art/2012/04/tate-modern-no-lone-zone/ . 2015-03-03 . www.marthagarzon.com.
32. Web site: Philadelphia Museum of Art - Exhibitions - Van Gogh Up Close. www.philamuseum.org.
33. News: Lucien Freud: Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, Seven magazine review. The Daily Telegraph. Andrew. Graham-Dixon. 2012-02-13. London.
34. Web site: Three From Cuba: The Art of... | Exhibitions | MutualArt. www.mutualart.com.
35. Web site: 2012: Van Dyck in Sicily Dulwich Picture Gallery. 2021-11-11. www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk.
36. Web site: Tate. Picasso & Modern British Art – Exhibition at Tate Britain. 2021-11-11. Tate. en-GB.
37. Web site: Musée d'Orsay. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120112135040/http://www.musee-orsay.fr/index.php?id=649&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=30632&no_cache=1. 2012-01-12. musee-orsay.fr.
38. Web site: Turner Inspired: In the Light of Claude 14 March – 5 June 2012 Exhibition The National Gallery, London . 2012-04-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120419073857/http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/turner-inspired . 2012-04-19 . dead .
39. News: If a City Were Perfect, What Would It Look Like?. The New York Times. 8 May 2012. Morris. Roderick Conway.
40. Web site: The Ideal City exhibition Floornature. 2021-11-11. Floornature.com. it.
41. News: Damien Hirst, at Tate Modern, Seven magazine review. The Daily Telegraph. Andrew. Graham-Dixon. 2012-04-11. London.
42. Web site: Fracture: Daido Moriyama. 2021-11-11. LACMA. en.
43. Web site: High Commissions Three New Photographers for "Picturing the South" Series . 2013-12-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170202041036/http://www.high.org/Press/Press-Releases/2011/December/High-Commissions-Three-New-Photographers-for-Picturing-the-South-Series.aspx . 2017-02-02 . dead .
44. Web site: Edvard Munch: The Modern Eye – Exhibition at Tate Modern. Tate.
45. Exhibitions at a Glance. Intelligent Life. September–October 2012. 29.
46. Web site: Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde – Exhibition at Tate Britain. Tate.
47. Web site: Ken Price Sculpture: A Retrospective. LACMA.
48. News: Tatzu Nishi's 'Discovering Columbus' Installation . The New York Times . Roberta . Smith . September 21, 2012.
49. Web site: George Bellows . www.metmuseum.org . 18 September 2021.
50. Web site: Tokyo 1955–1970: A New Avant-Garde | MoMA. The Museum of Modern Art.
51. Web site: Exclusive El Anatsui: "Broken Bridge II". 2021-11-11. Art21 Magazine. 8 February 2013 . en-US.
52. Web site: David Kimball Anderson. 2021-11-11. Karl Stirner Arts Trail. en-US.
53. Book: Some Pigeons Are More Equal Than Others. 9783037784655. 22 March 2016. Ellingsen. Eric. Lars Müller Publishers .
54. Web site: 2012-11-07. Some pigeons are more equal than others. 2021-11-11. IGNANT. en-US.
55. Web site: Eliza. Williams. The Art of the Olympics. Creative Review. 2012-05-01. 2012-07-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20121012172620/http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2012/april/the-art-of-the-olympics. 2012-10-12. dead.
56. News: Daniel. Baird. 'RUN' sculpture to be erected at Olympic Handball Arena in Hackney Wick. Hackney Citizen. 2011-05-01. 2012-07-27.
57. Web site: We are all flesh. Visit North Terrace Adelaide SA 5000 Australia T. [phone] E. infoartgallery sa gov au www agsa sa gov au AGSA Kaurna yartangka yuwanthi AGSA. st. s on Kaurna. l. Open in. Maps. AGSA - Online Collection.
58. Web site: CultureNOW - Chromatic Induction in a Double Frequency: Carlos Cruz-Diez and Miami-Dade County Art in Public Places. live. culturenow.org. https://web.archive.org/web/20181201005029/https://www.culturenow.org/index.php?page=entry&permalink=18407&seo=Chromatic-Induction-in-a-Double-Frequency_Carlos-CruzDiez-and-MiamiDade-County-Art-in-Public-Places . 2018-12-01 .
59. Web site: Janse Van Rensburg. Storm. 2017-12-05. SCAD AT MIAMI with 'the maestro'. live. 2021-11-11. SCAD.edu. en. https://web.archive.org/web/20181201005028/https://www.scad.edu/blog/scad-miami-maestro . 2018-12-01 .
60. News: A crystalline cave to dazzle and unsettle. The Great British Art Tour. Feeley. Claire. The Guardian. London. 2021-04-12. 2021-04-16.
61. News: Damien Hirst's Verity statue takes up position in Ilfracombe. https://web.archive.org/web/20121019012419/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturevideo/artvideo/9615156/Damien-Hirsts-Verity-statue-takes-up-position-in-Ilfracombe.html. dead. 2012-10-19. The Telegraph. 2012-10-17. 2012-10-17. London.
62. Web site: The Most Important Artworks of the 2010s. 28 November 2019.
63. Web site: Tony DeMarco Statue Unveiled at Historic Ceremony in North End [Photos] – NorthEndWaterfront.com]. northendwaterfront.com.
64. Web site: Archibald Prize Archibald 2012 finalist: The histrionic wayfarer (after Bosch) by Tim Storrier. 2021-11-11. www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au. en.
65. Web site: Professor Ruan Yisan gets Reed Award. University of Notre Dame School of Architecture. 5 April 2013. https://archive.today/20130409233708/http://architecture.nd.edu/about/driehaus-prize/the-reed-award/recipients/. 2013-04-09. dead.
66. Web site: BBC News - John Moores Painting Prize won by Sarah Pickstone . Bbc.co.uk . 2012-09-15 . 2012-10-17.
67. Web site: Girl with Black Balloons.
68. News: An Artist Who Delineated the Money. The New York Times. 12 September 2012. Rapold. Nicolas.