The atelier Cruz-Diez has just announced on Instagram the death of Carlos Cruz-Diez (Caracas 1923 – 2019) to 95 years. This tiny little man with an energy that seemed inexhaustible, a kindness all the south american, a cheerful conversation and necessarily long as his life, was one of the great pioneers of the kinetic art world.

He died naturally in his home, surrounded by his family, Saturday, July 27, 2019, in Paris, in his adopted hometown of Venezuelan francophile for decades.

His research and proposals have helped to expand the field of art, opening up a new understanding of the phenomenon of color, making him one of the most important artists of kinetic art. It has succeeded in demonstrating that the colour, by its interaction with the viewer, acquires an independent reality that exists without the slightest support or the use of the form.

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“Artist of artists” A pedestrian crossing signed Cruz-Diez in the streets of Los Angeles. FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP

In a career both prolific and peaceful which was more than 70 years, Carlos Cruz-Diez has led eight research protocols on the autonomy of color. It has been well over one hundred of”integrations” of art in public space, the Palais d’iéna in front of the Centre Pompidou-Metz, most recently in Jeddah in saudi Arabia, and his works are part of collections of major international museums, including the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) in New York, the Tate Modern in London, Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas.

It has recently received proudly the Legion of honour, and remained until the end the “artist of artists”, as evidenced by the immediate reaction of the artist franco-algerian Adel Abdessemed (“goodbye, my comrade of the road”, he was the first one to write). He was represented in France by galerie Mitterrand.