2001 in art
The year 2001 in art involved various significant events.
Events
- 1 January – A black monolith measuring approximately 9 feet tall appears in Seattle, Washington's Magnuson Park, placed by an anonymous artist in reference to the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.
- 4 June – Unveiling of Rachel Whiteread's Untitled Monument on the Fourth plinth, Trafalgar Square, London.
- 17 July – Inauguration of the Altamira cave replica created by Manuel Franquelo and Sven Nebel.
- 11 September
- *An estimated $100 million worth of art is destroyed in the 11 September attacks on New York City. Public artwork accounts for around $10 million of this figure, which includes works by Alexander Calder, Joan Miró and Roy Lichtenstein.
- *Fritz Koenig's Great Spherical Caryatid is the only surviving artwork following the September 11 attacks. It is repurposed as a memorial.
- *Several works of photojournalism become iconic for their portrayal of the events surrounding the September 11 attacks, including The Falling Man and Raising the Flag at Ground Zero.
- 27 September – Resale Rights Directive in the European Union provides a Droit de suite for artists.
- 1 October – The Ghibli Museum opens in Mitaka, Tokyo.
- 16 November – The Neue Galerie New York opens in Manhattan.
Undated
- A new wing in the Genia Schreiber University Art Gallery of the University of Tel Aviv, Israel, is dedicated to the memory of Michel Kikoine.
- The Leopold Museum opens in Vienna.
- The Pupils is created by Michaël Borremans in Belgium.
- They Could Still Serve is created by Ellen Gallagher in the United States.
- Traditional Chinese Studies Institute is created by Chen Danqing in China.
Exhibitions
- September 11 until November 11 - Caspar David Freidrich: Moonwatchers at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
- Max Beckmann retrospective at the Pompidou Centre, Paris
Awards
- Archibald Prize – Nicholas Harding for John Bell as King Lear
- Beck's Futures – Tim Stoner
- Schock Prize in Visual Arts – Giuseppe Penone
- Turner Prize – Martin Creed for Work No. 227: The lights going on and off
- Venice Biennial
- * Lion d'Or Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement: Richard Serra, Cy Twombly
- * Lion d'Or for Best Pavilion: Gregor Schneider
Works
- Michaël Borremans – The Pupils
- Ingvar Cronhammar - Elia in Herning, Denmark
- Jeremy Deller – Battle of Orgreave
- Lucian Freud – Portrait of Queen Elizabeth II
- Andy Goldsworthy - East Coast Cairn
- Tracy Harris – Funnel
- Michael Landy - Breakdown
- Daniel Richter – Tarifa
- Rigga - sculptures in Portland, Oregon jointly with artists
- Grzegorz Łagowski - Miles Davis Monument
- *Ean Eldred - Echo Gate
- *James Harrison - Ghost Ship
- *Peter Nylen - Alluvial Wall
- Tamsie Ringler - Living Room
- Michael Stutz - Facing the Crowd
- Zeng Fanzhi – ''The Last Supper''
Deaths
January to June
- 14 January - Fred Hughes, American art executive
- 30 January – O. Winston Link, American photographer.
- 12 February – Kristina Söderbaum, Swedish-German film actress, producer and photographer
- 17 February – Barry Burman, English painter and educator
- 18 February – Balthus, French modern artist
- 4 March
- *Jean René Bazaine, French painter, stained glass window designer and writer
- *Fred Lasswell, American cartoonist
- 1 June – Hank Ketcham, American cartoonist
- 19 June – David Sylvester, English art critic and curator
- 27 June – Tove Jansson, Swedish-Finnish novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author
July to December
- 1 July – Hélène de Beauvoir, French painter
- 4 July – Anne Yeats, Irish painter and stage designer
- 11 July – Herman Brood, Dutch musician, painter and media personality
- 28 August – Juan Muñoz, Spanish sculptor
- 23 October
- *Josh Kirby, English commercial artist
- *Daniel Wildenstein, French international art dealer and scholar
- 3 November – Sir Ernst Gombrich, Austrian-born art historian
- 19 November – Marcelle Ferron, Canadian painter and stained glass artist
- 25 November – Harry Devlin, American painter and illustrator
- December – Mercedes Matter, American painter
- 29 December – György Kepes, Hungarian-born painter, designer, educator and art theorist