1979 in art

Events

• November 15 – Art historian and former Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures Anthony Blunt's role as one of the 'Cambridge Five' double agents for the Soviet NKVD during World War II is revealed by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.
• The Xing xing of 20 avant-garde Chinese artists stage an illegal exhibition outside the National Art Museum of China in Beijing.
• The Bauhaus Archive, designed by Alex Cvijanovic with Hans Bandel after Walter Gropius, is completed in West Berlin, Germany.
• Edward Delaney's statue of Wolfe Tone in Dublin is destroyed by terrorists.

  Awards

• Archibald Prize: Wes Walters – Portrait of Phillip Adams

  Works

• Michael Andrews – '
• Judy Chicago – The Dinner Party
• Paul Delvaux – The Road to Rome
• Jenny Holzer – Truisms
• Lee Kelly – sculptures
• * Elkhorn
• * Nash
• Jack Mackie and Charles Greening – '
• Andrzej Pitynski – The Partisans
• Enzo Plazzotta – Attitude II
• John Rogers – 118 Modules
• Michael Snow – Flight Stop
• Don Wilson – Holon

  Births

• date unknown
• * Aideen Barry, Irish multimedia and performance artist
• * Éric Bourdon, French painter and writer
• * Elise Fouin, French designer

  Deaths

• January 11 – Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, German-born French Art dealer
• February 3 – Aaron Douglas, American painter
• February 7 – Charles Tunnicliffe, British wildlife painter
• March 20 – Jean Charlot, French painter and illustrator
• April 5 – Eugène Gabritschevsky, Russian biologist and artist
• June 23 – Reynolds Stone, English wood engraver
• June 25
• * Dave Fleischer, Austrian American animator, film director and film producer
• * Philippe Halsman, Latvian American portrait photographer
• July 13 – Ludwig Merwart, Austrian painter and graphic artist
• August 20 – Christian Dotremont, Belgian painter and poet
• August 29 – Ivon Hitchens, English painter
• September 17 – Paul Maze, French-born English Post-Impressionist painter
• November 8 – Edward Ardizzone, British writer and illustrator
• December 5 – Sonia Delaunay, Ukrainian-French artist
• December 23 – Peggy Guggenheim, American-born art collector
• December 26 – Karl Hubbuch, German painter, printmaker and draughtsman
• date unknown
• * Russell Brockbank, Canadian-born cartoonist
• * Sheila Fell, English painter

  Awards