A major figure in contemporary art and the inventor of a visual language based on movement and perception, Israeli artist Yaacov Agam has died at the age of 98. The announcement was made on Sunday, June 21, by the mayor of Rishon LeZion, his hometown. Just a few weeks earlier, he had received the 2026 Israel Prize in the visual arts category, recognizing an international career built between Israel, Switzerland, and especially France.
The man who transformed sight into an artistic experience
Born Yaacov Gibstein in 1928 in British Mandate Palestine, Agam grew up in an environment steeped in Jewish religious tradition: his father was a rabbi and Kabbalist. After studying in Jerusalem and then Zurich, he settled in Paris in the early 1950s and developed a unique artistic approach that would bring him renown.
Considered one of the pioneers of kinetic art, he creates works that change depending on the viewer's position and incorporate the idea of movement without necessarily moving physically. His work breaks with the idea of a static artwork and makes the gaze a central element of the creation.
This approach opened doors to major international institutions for him: his works have been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Guggenheim, and the Centre Pompidou. In France, he notably created the Salon Agam, commissioned for the Élysée Palace in 1974 and now housed at the Centre Pompidou. According to the Parisian museum, his monumental creations can also be seen in Tel Aviv, La Défense, Cleveland, and Leverkusen.
A work guided by change and creativity
Beyond his sculptures and public installations, Yaacov Agam championed an artistic philosophy deeply rooted in movement and renewal. Upon receiving the Israel Prize in April 2026, he stated that "creativity is the foundation of Judaism," an idea that permeated his entire body of work.
In an interview given to the Centre Pompidou in 2020, he also explained that the image constituted his only true language, considering that the gaze allowed access to a form of truth deeper than words.
Following the announcement of his death, Israeli President Isaac Herzog paid tribute to him on X, praising a creator who had given the world "a unique artistic language made of movement, change, and renewal." His legacy remains tied to a simple yet revolutionary idea: a work of art never exists in quite the same way depending on who is viewing it.
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