2006 in art

Events

• Rembrandt 400 – Series of activities to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the birth of Rembrandt.
• 1 January – Resale Rights Directive in the European Union, providing a Droit de suite for artists, is implemented.
• 1 July – Mudam museum of modern art in Luxembourg (city), designed by I. M. Pei, is opened by Grand Duke Jean.
• 31 August – Stolen Edvard Munch paintings The Scream and Madonna are recovered in a police raid in Oslo, Norway.
• 17 November – The Metropolitan Borough of Bury in the north of England sells its L. S. Lowry painting for £1.25 million at a Christie's auction to a private buyer to help fund a £10 million budget deficit.

Awards

• Archibald Prize – Marcus Wills, The Paul Juraszek Monolith
• Artes Mundi Prize – Eija-Liisa Ahtila
• Beck's Futures – Matt Stokes, Long After Tonight
• Hugo Boss Prize – Tacita Dean
• Caldecott Medal – Chris Raschka, The Hello, Goodbye Window
• John Moores Painting Prize – Martin Greenland for "Before Vermeer's Clouds"
• Turner Prize – Tomma Abts
• Wynne prize – John Beard, ''The Gap''

Films

• Art School Confidential
• Factory Girl
• Goya's Ghosts
• Klimt

Exhibitions

• The Masterpieces Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 2 Jan – 31 December 2006
• All the Rembrandts, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 26 Jan – 31 December 2006
• Frank Stella 1958, 4 February - 7 May at the Arthur M. Sackler Museum at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts then traveled to the Wexner Center at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio from September 1 – December 31.
• Rembrandt – Caravaggio Van Gogh Museum in cooperation with the Rijksmuseum, 24 Feb – 18 June 2006
• A summer with Rembrandt Mauritshuis, The Hague, 26 Jun – 18 September 2006
• Rembrandt, the Etcher The Rembrandt House Museum, Amsterdam, 8 Jul – 3 September 2006
• Rodin
• Everyone Sang: a view of Siegfried Sassoon and his world by 25 contemporary painters
• Peter Prendergast retrospective, Oriel Ynys Môn, 14 Jan – 26 February 2006
• "Barely Legal" (Banksy)

Works

• Magdalena Abakanowicz – Agora, Grant Park, Chicago, Illinois, United States
• Gary Breeze – Bali Bombings Memorial, London
• Ed Carpenter – Tecotosh
• Brian Goldbloom – Festival Lanterns
• Dan Graham – For Gordon Bunshaft
• David Hockney
• *
• *
• Anish Kapoor – Cloud Gate aka "The Bean" at AT&T Plaza in Millennium Park in Chicago, Illinois
• Mel Katz – Daddy Long Legs
• Gopal Swami Khetanchi
• * Bani-Thani
• * Devashree
• Frank Meisler – Kindertransport – The Arrival \
• Jack Whitten - 9.11.01 'Asylum NYCLovejoy Columns
• Statue of James Meredith

Deaths

January to March

• 1 January – John Latham, Zambian conceptual artist
• 8 January – Mimmo Rotella, Italian artist and poet
• 14 January – Jim Gary, American sculptor
• 29 January – Nam June Paik, South Korean-born American video artist
• 15 February – Joash Woodrow, English artist
• 23 February – Mauri Favén, Finnish painter
• 4 March
• *David Rose, American animator
• *Edgar Valter, Estonian writer and illustrator of children's books
• 7 March - Mary Spencer Watson, English sculptor
• 9 March – Jean Leymarie, French art historian
• 25 March – Bob Carlos Clarke, Irish photographer
• 27 March – Ian Hamilton Finlay, Scottish poet, writer, artist and gardener
• 28 March – Pro Hart, Australian painter

April to June

• 5 April – Allan Kaprow, American painter, assemblagist and art theorist
• 15 April – Davidee Itulu, Inuk artist
• 23 April – Isaac Witkin, South African sculptor
• 3 May – Karel Appel, Dutch painter, sculptor and poet
• 8 May – Iain Macmillan, Scottish photographer
• 9 May – Edouard Jaguer, French poet and art critic
• 27 May – Alex Toth, American comic book artist and cartoonist

July to December

• 8 July – Catherine Leroy, French photographer
• 15 July – Andrée Ruellan, American painter
• 28 July – Richard Mock, American painter, sculptor and cartoonist
• 1 August
• *Jason Rhoades, American installation artist
• *Bob Thaves, American illustrator
• 4 August – Julio Galán, Mexican artist
• 20 August – Joe Rosenthal, American Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer
• 26 August – Vladimir Tretchikoff, Russian artist
• 1 September – Sir Kyffin Williams, Welsh landscape painter
• 17 October – Marcia Tucker, American museum curator
• 25;October -- Emilio Vedova, Italian painter
• 6 December – Robert Rosenblum, American art historian
• 16 December – Larry Zox, American painter and printmaker
• 18 December – Ruth Bernhard, American photographer