8 January – Shortly after publication of the Italian edition of his book The Art Forger's Handbook, English-born art forger Eric Hebborn is found lying in a street in Rome, his skull crushed with a blunt instrument; he dies in hospital on 11 January.
15 March – Arken Museum of Modern Art in Copenhagen, designed by Søren Robert Lund, opens.
Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow opens.
Museum Tinguely in Basel, designed by Mario Botta, opens.
Archibald Prize – Wendy Sharpe, Self Portrait as Diana of Erskineville
Jan Amos Comenius Medal (UNESCO) – Yaacov Agam, for the "Agam Method" for visual education of young children
The Inaugural Hugo Boss Prize – Matthew Barney
Turner Prize – Douglas Gordon
Wynne Prize – William Robinson, Creation landscape – earth and sea
British Art Show 5 – various venues in Manchester
Sol LeWitt Prints: 1970–1995 – travelling exhibition by the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Vermeer – nearly complete exhibition of 25 works, The Hague and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Robert Calvo – Ascension (sculpture, Portland, Oregon)
Angela Conner – Rising Universe (water sculpture)
Roy Lichtenstein – Brushstrokes (sculpture, Portland, Oregon)
Ron Mueck – Big Baby, Mongrel and Pinocchio (sculptures)
3 January – Terence Cuneo, English railway and military painter (b. 1907).
6 January – Duane Hanson, American sculptor (b. 1925).
9 January – Félix González-Torres, Cuban artist (b. 1957).
11 January – Eric Hebborn, English-born art forger (b. 1934).
11 February – Pierre Edouard Leopold Verger, French photographer and ethnographer (b. 1902).
18 January – Leonor Fini, Argentine surrealist painter (b. 1908).
28 January – Jerry Siegel, American comic book artist (b. 1914).
20 February – Audrey Munson, American actress and artist's model (b. 1891).
5 March – Joshua Compston – British gallerist (b. 1970).
15 March – Helen Chadwick, British artist (b. 1953).
14 April – Mervyn Levy, Welsh-born art critic and artist (b. 1914).
25 April – Saul Bass, American graphic designer and Academy Award-winning filmmaker (b. 1920).
7 May – William Copley, American artist (b. 1919).
10 June – Marie-Louise von Motesiczky, Austrian painter (b. 1906).
28 July – Roger Tory Peterson, American naturalist, ornithologist, artist and educator (b. 1908).
27 August – Abram Games, English poster artist (b. 1914).
24 October – Lin Onus, Scottish-Aboriginal Koori artist (b. 1948).
26 November – Paul Rand, American graphic designer (b. 1914).
29 November – Dan Flavin, American minimalist artist (b. 1933).
3 December – Jean Tabaud, French artist (b. 1914).
11 December – Willie Rushton, English cartoonist, satirist, comedian, actor and performer (b. 1937).
16 December – Quentin Bell, English art historian and author (b. 1910).
25 December – Gabriel Loire, French stained glass artist (b. 1904).
1996 in art Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA
