# 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.

### 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).