1972 in art
Events from the year 1972 in art.
Events
- March–November – City Sculpture Project in England.
- May 21 – In St. Peter's Basilica, Laszlo Toth attacks Michelangelo's Pietà statue with a geologist's hammer, shouting that he is Jesus Christ.
- June 8 – KUNSTEN Museum of Modern Art Aalborg, Denmark, designed by Alvar and Elissa Aalto and Jean-Jacques Baruël, is completed.
- September 4 – 1972 Montreal Museum of Fine Arts robbery.
- September 15 – Release in France of Luis Buñuel's surrealist film The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie.
- September 16 – Opening of A.I.R. Gallery at 97 Wooster Street, SoHo, New York, the first artist-run, not-for-profit gallery for women artists in the United States.
- September – Release in the United Kingdom of Ken Russell's biographical film about Gaudier-Brzeska, Savage Messiah.
- October 4 – Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, designed by Louis Kahn, is opened.
- date unknown
- *BBC Television broadcasts Ways of Seeing, a four-part series by John Berger on art.
- *The Bridgeman Art Library is established as a commercial virtual archive of images by Harriet Bridgeman in London.
- *Costantino Nivola becomes the first non-American member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
- *Friedensreich Hundertwasser publishes his architectural manifesto, Your window right – your tree duty.
- *Portmeirion Pottery brings out its best-selling "Botanic Garden" design.
- *Oliver Millar becomes the first full-time Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures in the United Kingdom, succeeding Anthony Blunt.
Awards
Works
- Francis Bacon – Triptych–August 1972
- Enrico Baj - The Funeral of the Anarchist Pinelli
- Thomas Hart Benton – Joplin at the Turn of the Century
- Christo and Jeanne Claude – Valley Curtain
- Bronisław Chromy – Wawel Dragon
- Marcelle Ferron – Untitled stained glass panel at Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
- Helen Frankenthaler – Coral Wedge
- Barbara Hepworth – Minoan Head and Assembly of Sea Forms
- David Hockney – Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)
- Elek Imredy – Girl in a Wetsuit
- Joan Jonas – Vertical Roll
- Alexander Liberman – Contact II
- Natalia LL – Consumer Art
- Paul McCarthy – Black and White Tapes
- Clifton Pugh – Death of a Wombat
- John Raimondi – David
- Liberty Bell (Portland, Oregon)
- Mansu Hill Grand Monument
Music
- Don McLean - Vincent - a tribute to Vincent van Gogh
Births
- January 29 – Brian Wood, American author and illustrator.
- April 6 – Rinko Kawauchi, Japanese photographer.
- April 29 – Roman Dirge, American comic book artist and magician.
- July 2 – Coster Balakasi, Zimbabwean sculptor.
- July 19 – Zanele Muholi, South African visual activist.
Full date unknown
- Andrea Büttner, German-born artists.
- Duncan Campbell, Irish-born video artist.
- Jules de Balincourt, French painter.
- Gilles Tréhin, French artist and author.
- Hema Upadhyay, née Hirani, Indian installation artist and photographer.
Deaths
January to June
- January 19 – Suzanne Malherbe, French illustrator and designer.
- February 19 – Tedd Pierce, American animated cartoon writer, animator and artist.
- March 13 – Tony Ray-Jones, English photographer.
- March 23 – Cristóbal Balenciaga, Spanish fashion designer.
- March 27
- *M. C. Escher, Dutch graphic artist.
- *Ricco Wassmer, Swiss painter.
- April 26 - Fernando Amorsolo, Filipino painter
July to December
- July 31 – Dod Procter, English painter
- October 23 – Clarice Cliff, English ceramic artist
- October 31 – Beta Vukanović, Serbian painter.
- December 23 – Norman Clyde, American mountaineer, nature photographer and naturalist.
- December 24 – Gisela Richter, English archaeologist and art historian.
- December 29 – Joseph Cornell, American artist and sculptor.
Full date unknown
- Gerard Curtis Delano, American painter.
- Ilija Bašičević, Serbian painter