2001 in art

The year 2001 in art involves 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 ("The Sphere") 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 (Tate)
 * Venice Biennial
 * Lion d'Or Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement: Richard Serra (USA), Cy Twombly (USA)
 * Lion d'Or for Best Pavilion: Gregor Schneider (Germany)

Works

 * Michaël Borremans – The Pupils
 * Ingvar Cronhammar - Elia in Herning, Denmark
 * Jeremy Deller – Battle of Orgreave
 * Lucian Freud – Portrait of Queen Elizabeth II
 * Tracy Harris – Funnel
 * Michael Landy - Breakdown
 * Daniel Richter – Tarifa
 * Rigga - sculptures in Portland, Oregon jointly with artists
 * Ean Eldred - Echo Gate
 * James Harrison - Ghost Ship
 * Peter Nylen - Alluvial Wall
 * Tamsie Ringler - Living Room (sculpture, Gresham, Oregon)
 * Michael Stutz - Facing the Crowd
 * Zeng Fanzhi – The Last Supper

January to June

 * 14 January - Fred Hughes, American art executive (Founder of the Warhol Foundation) (b. 1943)
 * 30 January – O. Winston Link, American photographer. (b. 1914)
 * 12 February – Kristina Söderbaum, Swedish-German film actress, producer and photographer (b. 1912)
 * 17 February – Barry Burman, English painter and educator (b. 1943)
 * 18 February – Balthus, French modern artist (b. 1908)
 * 4 March
 * Jean René Bazaine, French painter, stained glass window designer and writer (b. 1904)
 * Fred Lasswell, American cartoonist (b. 1916)
 * 1 June – Hank Ketcham, American cartoonist (b. 1920)
 * 19 June – David Sylvester, English art critic and curator (b. 1924)
 * 27 June – Tove Jansson, Swedish-Finnish novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author (b. 1914)

July to December

 * 1 July – Hélène de Beauvoir, French painter (b. 1910)
 * 4 July – Anne Yeats, Irish painter and stage designer (b. 1919)
 * 11 July – Herman Brood, Dutch musician, painter and media personality (b. 1946)
 * 28 August – Juan Muñoz, Spanish sculptor (b. 1953)
 * 23 October
 * Josh Kirby, English commercial artist (b. 1928)
 * Daniel Wildenstein, French international art dealer and scholar (b. 1917)
 * 3 November – Sir Ernst Gombrich, Austrian-born art historian (b. 1909)
 * 19 November – Marcelle Ferron, Canadian painter and stained glass artist (b. 1924)
 * 25 November – Harry Devlin, American painter and illustrator (b. 1918)
 * December – Mercedes Matter, American painter (b. 1913)
 * 29 December – György Kepes, Hungarian-born painter, designer, educator and art theorist (b. 1906)