The year2006 inart involved various significant events.

• Rembrandt 400 – Series of activities to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the birth ofRembrandt.^[1]
• 1 January –Resale Rights Directive in theEuropean Union, providing aDroit de suite for artists, is implemented (in the United Kingdom by theArtist's Resale Right Regulations (February 13)).
• 1 July –Mudam museum of modern art inLuxembourg (city), designed byI. M. Pei, is opened byGrand Duke Jean.^[2]
• 31 August – StolenEdvard Munch paintingsThe Scream andMadonna are recovered in a police raid inOslo, Norway.^[3]
• 17 November – TheMetropolitan Borough of Bury in the north ofEngland sells itsL. S. Lowry paintingA River Bank^[4] (1947; bought in 1951 for £150) for £1.25 million at aChristie's auction to a private buyer to help fund a £10 million budget deficit.^[5]

• Archibald Prize –Marcus Wills,The Paul Juraszek Monolith
• Artes Mundi Prize –Eija-Liisa Ahtila
• Beck's Futures –Matt Stokes,Long After Tonight
• Hugo Boss Prize –Tacita Dean
• Caldecott Medal –Chris Raschka,The Hello, Goodbye Window
• John Moores Painting Prize – Martin Greenland for "BeforeVermeer's Clouds"^[6]
• Turner Prize –Tomma Abts
• Wynne prize –John Beard,The Gap

• Art School Confidential
• Factory Girl
• Goya's Ghosts
• Klimt

• The MasterpiecesRijksmuseum,Amsterdam, 2 Jan – 31 December 2006
• All the Rembrandts, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 26 Jan – 31 December 2006
• Frank Stella 1958, 4 February - 7 May at theArthur M. Sackler Museum atHarvard University inCambridge, Massachusetts then traveled to the Wexner Center atOhio State University inColumbus, Ohio from September 1 – December 31.^[7][8]
• Rembrandt – CaravaggioVan Gogh Museum in cooperation with the Rijksmuseum, 24 Feb – 18 June 2006
• A summer with RembrandtMauritshuis,The Hague, 26 Jun – 18 September 2006
• Rembrandt, the Etcher The Rembrandt House Museum, Amsterdam, 8 Jul – 3 September 2006
• Rodin (Royal Academy of Arts, London, 23 September 2006 – 1 Jan 2007)
• Everyone Sang: a view ofSiegfried Sassoon and his world by 25 contemporary painters (Francis Kyle Gallery, London, November–December)
• Peter Prendergast retrospective, Oriel Ynys Môn, 14 Jan – 26 February 2006 (toured throughout UK)
• "Barely Legal" (Banksy)

• Magdalena Abakanowicz –Agora,Grant Park,Chicago, Illinois,United States
• Gary Breeze –Bali Bombings Memorial, London
• Ed Carpenter –Tecotosh (sculpture, Portland, Oregon)
• Brian Goldbloom –Festival Lanterns (sculpture, Portland, Oregon)
• Dan Graham –For Gordon Bunshaft (sculpture, Washington, D.C.)
• David Hockney
  • Woldgate Woods, March 30 - April 21 2006Archived 29 December 2016 at theWayback Machine
  • Woldgate Woods, 6 & 9 November 2006Archived 29 December 2016 at theWayback Machine
• Anish Kapoor –Cloud Gate aka "The Bean" (construction begun 2004 work finished 2006) atAT&T Plaza inMillennium Park inChicago,Illinois^[9]
• Mel Katz –Daddy Long Legs (sculpture, Portland, Oregon)
• Gopal Swami Khetanchi
  • Bani-Thani
  • Devashree
• Frank Meisler –Kindertransport – The Arrival (sculpture, London)
• Asylum NYC^[10]
• Lovejoy Columns (sculpture, Portland, Oregon)
• Statue of James Meredith

• 1 January –John Latham, Zambianconceptual artist (b.1921)
• 8 January –Mimmo Rotella, Italian artist and poet (b.1918)
• 14 January –Jim Gary, American sculptor (b.1939)
• 29 January –Nam June Paik, South Korean-born Americanvideo artist (b.1932)
• 15 February –Joash Woodrow, English artist (b.1927)
• 23 February –Mauri Favén, Finnish painter (b.1920)
• 4 March
  • David Rose, American animator (b.1910)
  • Edgar Valter, Estonian writer and illustrator of children's books (b.1929)
• 7 March -Mary Spencer Watson, English sculptor (b.1913)
• 9 March –Jean Leymarie, Frenchart historian (b.1919)
• 25 March –Bob Carlos Clarke, Irish photographer (b.1950)
• 27 March –Ian Hamilton Finlay, Scottish poet, writer, artist and gardener (b.1925)
• 28 March –Pro Hart, Australian painter (b.1928)

• 5 April –Allan Kaprow, American painter,assemblagist and art theorist (b.1927)
• 15 April –Davidee Itulu, Inuk artist (b.1929)
• 23 April –Isaac Witkin, South African sculptor (b.1936)
• 3 May –Karel Appel, Dutch painter, sculptor and poet (b.1921)
• 8 May –Iain Macmillan, Scottish photographer (b.1938)
• 9 May –Edouard Jaguer, French poet andart critic (b.1924)
• 27 May –Alex Toth, American comic book artist and cartoonist (b.1928)

• 8 July –Catherine Leroy, French photographer (b.1944)
• 15 July –Andrée Ruellan, American painter (b.1905)
• 28 July –Richard Mock, American painter, sculptor and cartoonist (b.1944)
• 1 August
  • Jason Rhoades, Americaninstallation artist (b.1965)
  • Bob Thaves, American illustrator (b.1924)
• 4 August –Julio Galán, Mexican artist (b.1958)
• 20 August –Joe Rosenthal, AmericanPulitzer Prize-winning photographer (b.1911)
• 26 August –Vladimir Tretchikoff, Russian artist (b.1913)
• 1 September – SirKyffin Williams, Welsh landscape painter (b.1918)
• 17 October –Marcia Tucker, American museum curator (b.1940)
• 25;October --Emilio Vedova, Italian painter (b.1919)
• 26 November –Dave Cockrum, Americancomic book artist (b.1943)
• 6 December –Robert Rosenblum, American art historian (b.1927)
• 16 December –Larry Zox, American painter and printmaker (b.1937)
• 18 December –Ruth Bernhard, American photographer (b.1905)

• 2006 in art
• 2006 in the arts
• 2000s in art
• Years of the 21st century in art

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