1987 in art

Events

• 10 December – Musée d'art moderne (Saint-Étienne) opens as a separate institution.
• 22 July – Palestinian cartoonist Naji al-Ali is shot in London; he dies 28 August.

Exhibitions

• November 20 until January 24, 1988 - Ana Mendieta: A Retrospective at the New Museum in New York City.

Awards

• Archibald Prize – William Robinson, Equestrian self-portrait
• John Moores Painting Prize - Tim Head for "Cow mutations"
• Turner Prize – Richard Deacon

Works

• Alice Aycock – Three-Fold Manifestation II
• Wayne Chabre – John von Neumann
• Martin Creed – Work No. 1
• Rose Finn-Kelcey –
• Anselm Kiefer – Osiris and Isis
• Ulrich Rückriem – Untitled
• Richard Serra – Fulcrum
• Andres Serrano – Piss Christ
• Frank Stella – Decanter
• Werner Tübke – Early Bourgeois Revolution in Germany
• Ernest Zobole – ''House Interior in Landscape''

Births

• 1 August – CJ de Silva, Filipino art director, painter, graphic designer and illustrator
• Xyza Cruz Bacani, Filipina street photographer
• Ibrahim Mahama, Ghanaian installation artist

Deaths

January to June

• 14 February – Else Halling, Norwegian tapestry weaver
• 18 February – William Coldstream, English realist painter
• 22 February – Andy Warhol, American artist, director and writer
• 26 March – Georg Muche, German painter
• 19 April – Milt Kahl, American animator
• 8 June - Alexander Iolas, Egyptian born Greek gallerist and collector

July to December

• 30 July – Michel Tapié, French artist, critic, curator and art collector
• 29 August – Naji al-Ali, Palestinian cartoonist
• September – Alice Rahon, French-born Mexican painter and poet.
• 25 September – Harry Holtzman, American artist.
• 4 October – Kalervo Palsa, Finnish artist.
• 27 October – Jean Hélion, French painter
• 28 October – André Masson, French graphic artist
• 4 November – Raphael Soyer Russian-born American painter,.
• 15 November – Ernő Goldfinger, Hungarian-born architect and furniture designer.
• 2 December – Robert Filliou, French Fluxus artist
• 18 December - Dimitrije Bašičević, Serbian painter and sculptor

Full date unknown

• Roland Ansieau, French Art Deco graphic artist.
• Huang Yao, Chinese artist
• Raymond Moore, English landscape photographer.
• Myron Stout, American abstract painter.