Photo: Joe Rubino
In Memoriam: The Artists and Art Luminaries We Lost in 2025
Notable figures who died this year include David Lynch, Frank Gehry, Pope Francis, Leonard Lauder, and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith.
Sarah Cascone
December 21, 2025
As another year draws to a close, we remember all those in the art world who have died over the last 12 months. Some were giants in their fields, while others have had quieter, less-heralded careers—and some leave behind questionable legacies. But all are now acknowledged here in our pages for their contributions to arts and culture, and our condolences go out to those who knew and loved them.
Timothy App, painter and arts educator (1947–2025)
“Over five decades, App, an Akron, Ohio, native who began teaching at MICA in 1990, became a standout figure in American abstract art thanks to more than 25 solo exhibits, including a career retrospective in 2013 at the American University Museum in Washington, D.C.,” the Baltimore Banner reported. “App’s distinctive geometric style forgoes people or places, and instead evokes emotion through structure, clean lines and open space.”