1997 in art

Events from the year 1997 in art.

Events

• January 27 – It is revealed that French museums have nearly 2,000 pieces of art that had been stolen by Nazis.
• February 22 – Gustav Klimt's Portrait of a Lady (overpainted 1917 on Portrait of a Young Lady) is stolen from the Galleria d'arte moderna Ricci Oddi in Piacenza, Italy. It is recovered from a hiding place in the exterior of the building in December 2019.
• March 6 – Pablo Picasso's Tête de Femme is stolen from the Lefevre Gallery in London's Mayfair by an armed robber. 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.
• December 2 – Is Painting Dead?, a discussion on ITV in the UK following this year's Turner Prize award, becomes notorious for artist Tracey Emin appearing drunk and storming off.

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.
• Istanbul Contemporary Art Museum is established by conceptual artist Genco Gulan in Turkey as an art project.
• 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.
• October 29 until February 28, 1998 - Jackie Winsor: Sculpture at MoMA PS1 in Long Island City, Queens, New York City, New York.

Awards

• Archibald Prize – Nigel Thomson, Barbara Blackman
• John Moores Painting Prize - Dan Hays for "Harmony in Green"
• 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

• Matthew Barney - The Erich Weiss Suite
• Louise Bourgeois – Eye Benches I, II and III (Seattle)
• Maurizio Cattelan – Turisti (installation, first version)
• Thornton Dial - The Bridge dedicated to Congressman John Lewis at John Lewis Plaza in Freedom Park in Atlanta, Georgia
• Lucian Freud – Eight Months Gone
• Zenos Frudakis – Statue of Ellis Arnall (Atlanta)
• Antony Gormley – Another Place (sculpture)
• Rodney Graham – Vexation Island (film loop)
• Philip Jackson
  • Gurkha Memorial, London
  • Raoul Wallenberg Monument, London
• Larry Kirkland – Garden Wreath (installation, Portland, Oregon)
• Gabriel Koren - El-Hajj Malik Shabazz, Malcolm X placed at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan, New York City
• 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
• Martin Puryear – Bearing Witness (sculpture, Washington, D.C.)
• Richard Serra - Snake (completed)
• Gillian Wearing – 10–16 (video)

Films

• The Dog of Flanders: The Movie

Deaths

January to June

• January 23 – Jeremy Maas, English art dealer and historian of Victorian painting (b. 1928).
• 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).
• March 31 – Nandor Glid, Yugoslav and Serbian sculptor (b.1924).
• 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; murdered)
• 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)
• November 26 - Philip Berman, art collector, philanthropist, and co-founder of the Philip and Muriel Berman Museum at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania (b. 1915
• December 16 – Lillian Disney, American artist and wife of Walt Disney (b. 1899)

Full date unknown

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