Robert Irwin
(1928–2023)
Artworks by Robert Irwin
About Robert Irwin
Robert Irwin (1928–2023) was an American artist and a founding figure of the Light and Space movement, the West Coast strand of Minimalism that emerged in Southern California in the 1960s. Born in Long Beach, California, he trained at the Otis Art Institute (1948–50) and Chouinard Art Institute (1952–54), beginning his career as an Abstract Expressionist painter. Through the 1960s his work grew increasingly reductive, moving from line paintings to luminous "dot" paintings and then to convex "disc" works that dissolved the object into pure perceptual effect.
By 1972 Irwin had left the studio entirely, turning instead to site-specific installations that used light, scrim, and architecture to heighten viewers' awareness of their surroundings. He went on to realize more than fifty such projects, including the master plan for Dia:Beacon (1999–2003), a long-term installation at the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas (2001–16), and the Central Garden at the Getty Center in Los Angeles (1992–97).
In 1984 Irwin became the first visual artist to receive a MacArthur Fellowship. His work is held in major museum collections, including the Whitney Museum of American Art. He died in San Diego in 2023 at age 95.