Pat Steir Abstract Painter of Waterfalls dies at 87

One of the great innovators across contemporary painting, drawing, printmaking and beyond, Pat Steir first rose to prominence in the late 1970s and 1980s for her iconographic canvases and immersive installations. She attracted substantial critical acclaim for her inventive approach to painting—the rigorous pouring technique she developed in the late 1980s for her Waterfall series, in which she harnessed the forces of gravity and gesture to achieve works of astonishing lyricism. Informed by a deep engagement with art history and Eastern philosophy, as well as a passion for artistic advocacy in both the visual and literary realms, Steir’s storied five-decade career constantly pushed boundaries through an intrepid commitment to material exploration and experimentation.

Steir was the recipient of numerous awards and accolades over the course of her career, including the prestigious National Medal of Art presented to her on behalf of the United States Department of State under President Obama’s administration in 2017. Steir’s work has been the subject of significant solo exhibitions and site-specific installations at major museums and foundations across the globe, including ‘Silent Secret Waterfalls’ (2019) at the Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia PA, ‘Color Wheel’ (2019 – 2021) at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., and her first comprehensive survey in China at the Long Museum (West Bund), Shanghai, China, in 2021. In 2013, the National Academy Museum, New York NY, presented ‘Pat Steir: Blue River’ and in 2010, the exhibition ‘Pat Steir: Drawing Out of Line’ traveled from the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence RI, to Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase NY.

In 1998 Steir created the site-specific installations ‘Likity Split’ and ‘Ghost Moon Mountain Water’ for The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York NY, and P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City NY, respectively. In 1987, Steir installed a solo exhibition titled ‘Self-Portrait: An Installation’ at the New Museum, New York NY. Other major shows include: The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland (1994, 1996); Centre National d’art Contemporain de Grenoble, Grenoble, France (1992); Musée d’art contemporain, Lyon, France (1990); The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore MD (1987-1988); the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (1987); The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn NY (1983); and the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston TX (1983).

Main Image: Pat Steir, Monk Tuyu Meditating Waterfall