Israeli visual artist Yaakov Agam dies at the age of 98

Pioneer of kinetic art, Israeli artist Yaakov Agam died at the age of 98, the mayor of his city, Rishon Letzion (center), announced on social networks on Sunday June 21.

“I was saddened to learn of the passing of one of our city’s children, Israel Prize winner and one of the greatest, influential and innovative artists, Yaacov Agam, of blessed memory”and écrit Raz Kinstlich sur sa page Facebook.

“Agam, who died at the age of 98 after a long and rich life, was one of the most famous and important artists of his generation”he added.

A native of Rishon Letzion, Yaakov Agam (real name Gibstein) had studied in Switzerland and France. After settling in Paris, he began a career as a sculptor and kinetic artist, working alongside Brancusi, Marc Chagall and André Breton. One of his flagship works, the Salon Agam, designed for the presidential palace of the Elysée, is still in the collections of the Center Pompidou in Paris.

“Agam has become one of the most striking figures in world kinetic art. These gigantic works are spread across the world, from Tel Aviv (where he created an unreal fountain mixing water and fire on Place Dizengoff) to La Défense (in 1977, he created a mosaic fountain on the square) passing through Cleveland or Leverkusen”we can read on the Center Georges Pompidou website.

“The only language I speak is the visual. The word betrays, because the words come from the mouth, and the mouth comes from the stomach… The eyes are part of the soul. If you look with the eyes you look with the soul”Yaakov Agam said in 2020 during an interview with the Art Center.

Recipient of the prestigious Israel Prize in April 2026, he declared during the award ceremony that “creativity is the foundation of Judaism”.