1987 in art

Events

• 10 December – Musée d'art moderne opens as a separate institution.
• 22 July – Palestinian cartoonist Naji al-Ali is shot in London; he dies 28 August.

  Awards

• Archibald Prize – William Robinson, Equestrian self-portrait
• John Moores Painting Prize - Tim Head for "Cow mutations"
• Turner Prize – Richard Deacon

  Works

• Wayne Chabre – John von Neumann
• Martin Creed – Work No. 1
• Rose Finn-Kelcey –
• Ulrich Rückriem – Untitled
• Andres Serrano – Piss Christ
• Frank Stella – Decanter
• Werner Tübke – Early Bourgeois Revolution in Germany
• Ernest Zobole – House Interior in Landscape

  Births

• 1 August – CJ de Silva, Filipino art director, painter, graphic designer and illustrator
• Xyza Cruz Bacani, Filipina street photographer
• Ibrahim Mahama, Ghanaian installation artist

  Deaths

January to June

• 14 February – Else Halling, Norwegian tapestry weaver
• 18 February – William Coldstream, English realist painter
• 22 February – Andy Warhol, American artist, director and writer
• 26 March – Georg Muche, German painter
• 19 April – Milt Kahl, American animator

  July to December

• 30 July - Michel Tapié, French artist, critic, curator, and art collector
• 29 August – Naji al-Ali, Palestinian cartoonist
• 25 September - Harry Holtzman, American artist.
• 4 October – Kalervo Palsa, Finnish artist.
• 27 October – Jean Hélion, French painter
• 28 October – André Masson, French artist
• 4 November – Raphael Soyer Russian-born American painter,.
• 15 November – Ernő Goldfinger, Hungarian-born architect and furniture designer.
• 2 December – Robert Filliou, French Fluxus artist
• 18 December - Dimitrije Bašičević, Serbian painter and sculptor

  Full date unknown

• Roland Ansieau, French Art Deco graphic artist.
• Huang Yao, Chinese artist
• Raymond Moore, English landscape photographer.
• Myron Stout, American abstract painter.