1990

The Karl-Ernst-Osthaus Museum mounts the exhibition "Aus dem Würfelmuseum, Zur Kritik der konstruktiven Kunst", curated by Michael Fehr, Clemens Krummel and the artists Hartmut Böhm and Diethelm Koch

L’Espace de l’Art Concret is founded in Mouans-Sartoux, France

Adolf Luther dies in Krefeld, Germany

Alejandro Otero dies

Mathias Goeritz dies in Mexico City, Mexico

The Guggenheim Museum de-accessions three major works — "L'Annniversaire" by Chagall, "Boy in Blue Jacket" by Modigliani, and "Fugue" by Kandinsky — from their permanent collection in order to raise $30 million to purchase Count Giuseppe Panza di Biumo Minimalist art collection

Anna C. Chave publishes her "Minimalism and the Rhetoric of Power"; She equates Minimal art with the "face of capital, the face of authority, the face of the father"

Ralph (Robert) Humphrey dies in New York, New York

A retrospective exhibition of Peter Halley's work tours Europe, traveling to the Musee d'Art Contemporain, Bordeaux; Musee d'Art Contemporain, Lausanne; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid; and Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam

Victor Pasmore retrospective at Serpentine Gallery, London, England

Joost Baljeu dies in Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Imre Kocsis dies in Kaltenherberg, Germany

August Brauneck dies in Frankfurt

Wilhelm Heyerhoff dies on July 13 in Hamburg

Jean Leppien dies in Paris, France

Agnes Martin is awarded the “Alexej von Jawlensky” prize by the city of Wiesbaden, Germany

Jo Delahaut dies in Schaerbeek near Brussels, Belgium

Harold Cousins dies in Brussels, Belgium

Mario Nigro dies in Livorno, Italy

Lev Nussberg dies

Nicolas Schöffer dies in Paris, France

Roman Clemens dies on February 3 in Zurich, Switzerland

Alfredo Hlito dies

Helio Oiticica's traveling survey exhibition at the Witte de With, Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume, Paris, France; Fundacio Antoni Tapies, Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Arte Moderna da Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisboa, Portugal (1993); Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, USA (1994); Centro de Arte Helio Oiticica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1997)

Agnes Martin mounts her second career retrospective, this time at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Retrospective exhibition travels to museums through the US and Spain; Her book "Writings", a collection of her lectures, is publishe; The Austrian government awards her the “Oskar Kokoschka” prize for international work in the visual arts

Peter Halley mounts first solo exhibition in a United States museum at the Des Moines Art Center, Iowa

John Cage dies on August 12 in New York, New York

The Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam organizes a traveling retrospective exhibition of Agnes Martin's post-1974 work

Gianni Colombo dies in Melzo, Italy

Robert Jacobsen dies in Tagelund, Denmark

Richard Mortensen dies in Copenhagen, Denmark

Richard Diebenkorn dies in Healdsburg, California

CBD project begins in Sydney, Australia (continues through 1999); The group consists of a board, including Vicente Butron, Stephen Little, John Nixon, John Young, Janet Shanks (Ollevou), Sue Cramer, Tony Schwensen, Justene Williams that oversees the direction and program; The management committee includes David M. Thomas, Darrel Williams, Kyle Jenkins, and others; The program has a non-objective bent, with a large emphasis on the effect of the monochrome painting and the ready-made as the nominant evident in the installation-based work exhibited

Arnhem Land bark painter George Milpurrurru (1938–1998) becomes the first Aboriginal artist honored with a solo exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Ian Burn dies in Sydney, Australia

Jan Schoonhoven dies in Delft, The Netherlands

Donald Judd dies on February 12 in New York, New York

Anni Albers dies on May 10 in Orange, Connecticut

Hin Bredendieck dies on September 1 in Roswall, Ga.

Helmut Schulze dies in Dessau, Germany

Anne Truitt publishes her book "Prospect"

A retrospective of John McLaughlin's work is organized by the Laguna Art Museum

Joe Overstreet retrospective exhibition at the New Jersey State Museum in Trenton, New Jersey

Fred Sandback closes his Dia Art Foundation-funded museum in Winchendon, Massachusetts

Cesar Paternosto publishes his book "The Stone and the Thread: Andean Roots of Abstract Art"

Dan Flavin dies on Long Island, New York

Felix Gonzalez-Torres dies

Die Stiftung fur konkrete Kunst Roland Phleps was founded in Freiburg-Zahringen, Germany

Victor Vasarely dies in Paris, France

Konrad Püschel dies on January 20 in Wiemar

Carolee Schneemann retrospective exhibition at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York

James Lee Byars dies

Kenneth Showell dies

Franz Erhard Walther retrospective exhibition at the Kunstverein Hannover, Germany

The Center for Contemporary Non-Objective Art (CCNOA) is founded in Brussels, Belgium

Hebel_121 was founded in Basel, Switzerland

Victor Pasmore dies on January 23 in La Valetta, Malta

Anton Stankowski dies in Esslingen am Neckar, Germany

Gerhard Wittner dies in Frankfurt am Main

Alfred Roth dies

Tony Smith retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

Exhibition "Love Forever: Yayoi Kusama 1958-1968" at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

Agnes Martin is awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Bill Clinton

Margaret Thatcher Projects opens in February

PAINTBOX is founded in Copenhagen, Denmark; The project focused on conceptual painting, which is explored in various ways by six Danish artists (1999-2000)

Jo Baer retrospective exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

PS project space is founded in Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Jean Dewasne dies in Paris, France

Hubert Hoffmann dies on September 25 in Graz, Austria

Paula Cooper Gallery mounts first solo exhibition of the late Dutch artist Jan Schoonhoven in the United States

Alan Shields retrospective exhibition at the Beach Museum of Art, Kansas State University

Alexander Liberman dies on November 19 in Miami Beach, Florida

Lee Lozano dies