Yaacov Agam (יעקב אגם), born May 11, 1928, in Rishon LeZion, Israel, and widely recognized as the father of kinetic art, passed away on June 21, 2026, at the age of 98. Agam pioneered an entirely new relationship between artist, artwork, and viewer — one built on movement, time, and perpetual transformation. Just weeks before his passing, the State of Israel awarded him the 2026 Israel Prize for Visual Arts, the nation’s highest cultural honor.
Born Yaacov Gipshtein, the son of Rabbi Yehoshua Gibstein — whose lineage traced back to the founder of the Chabad movement — Agam studied at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem before traveling to Zurich to study with Johannes Itten, a central figure of the Bauhaus movement. These twin influences — Bauhaus geometry and the mystical, time-based philosophy of Jewish thought — fused into the visual language he would spend a lifetime developing.
Agam moved to Paris in the early 1950s and held his first solo exhibition there in 1953, presenting colorful wooden reliefs that changed appearance as the viewer moved past them. In 1955, he participated in the landmark Paris exhibition Le Mouvement alongside Marcel Duchamp, Jean Tinguely, and Alexander Calder — the show widely credited with founding the kinetic art movement. Where Calder’s mobiles moved at the whim of the wind, Agam’s works required the viewer to move, making each person a co-creator. He also founded the related Op Art movement and invented the Agamograph, a lenticular print technique that shifts images as the viewing angle changes.
Among his most celebrated works: the Fire and Water Fountain at Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv; the Salon Agam at the Élysée Palace, commissioned by President Georges Pompidou and now listed among the masterpieces of the Centre Pompidou’s permanent collection; Double Metamorphosis II (1964) at the Museum of Modern Art, New York; and Transparent Rhythms II at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution. His major retrospectives include the Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris (1972); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (1973); and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (1980). In 2017, the Yaacov Agam Museum of Art opened in his hometown of Rishon LeZion — Israel’s first permanent institution dedicated to a single artist’s work.
Agam’s works are held in the permanent collections of:
- Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York
- Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
- Centre Pompidou, Paris
- Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
- Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- Tate Modern, London
- Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum
- Jewish Museum, New York
- Yaacov Agam Museum of Art, Rishon LeZion
For over 70 years, Agam’s pioneering ideas transformed developments in art, architecture, theatre, and public sculpture. Reflecting both his Jewish heritage and his engagement with the leaders of the Bauhaus and Surrealist movements, his work has influenced generations of modern artists. Agam is survived by his wife, French harpist Chantal Thomas d’Hoste, and his children, including artist Ron Agam and musician Oram Agam.
GALLERY M represents Yaacov Agam’s available original and limited edition works. Our specialists have personally worked with Agam since the early 1990s and look forward to placing the right work in your collection. View a select grouping of Yaacov Agam works online here or speak with a GALLERY M specialist today. 