Abstract painter Raymond Saunders dead at 90
Raymond Saunders, the American artist who created abstract multimedia paintings reflecting on many types of societal issues, has died at the age of 90.
His passing was confirmed in a joint statement posted to Instagram on July 21st by his two representing galleries, Andrew Kreps Gallery and David Zwirner.
It said: “We are deeply saddened to share the passing of Raymond Saunders (1934–2025) at the age of 90. Saunders’s singular oeuvre was defined by assemblage-style works that brought together his extensive formal training with his own lived experiences.”
The statement then went on to provide a biography of Saunders’ life, explaining that he was first inspired by the art world when he studied in public school art programmes in his native Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Per Artsy, Zwerner said in a further tribute: “Raymond will be dearly missed by his family, friends, and the Bay Area community, where he had lived since the early 1960s.”
He added: “His work, however, will continue to be seen and discovered by new audiences for many decades to come as he takes his rightful place in art history.”
Saunders’ work was always profoundly distinctive, often using collage materials set against a black background, reminiscent of a blackboard. This canvas allowed him to reflect a range of social issues within his work, most notably the racism that Black men face in the United States.
The Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh recently held a retrospective show displaying a range of 35 of Saunders’ works from across his career, titled Flowers from a Black Garden.
Additionally, Saunders’ work can be seen as permanent installations in galleries such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.
