Remembering Christian Bernard, Al Gury, and Hermione Carline
This week, we honor the founding museum director, an artist who shaped PAFA, and a painter of transience.
In Memoriam is published every Wednesday afternoon and honors those we recently lost in the art world.
Christian Bernard (1950–2026)
French critic, curator, and museum director
The French critic and curator was the founding director of Geneva's Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. He helped establish the Regional Contemporary Art Fund Rhône-Alpes, a French government-funded regional collection of contemporary art, served as artistic director of the Printemps de Septembre contemporary art festival in Toulouse, and founded the publishing house Walden N. He was also an accomplished poet, receiving the Grand Prix de Poésie 2026 for a lifetime of work from the French Academy mere weeks before his passing.
Vincent Browne (1947–2026)
Irish sculptor of beloved public landmarks
He made one of Dublin's best-loved landmarks, a bronze usher outside of the now-defunct Screen Cinema. He also created a sculpture of a seat outside of the iconic Temple Bar in the same city, and an anti-war memorial in Limerick.
Hermione Carline (1951–2026)
British painter who explored light and transience
Her semi-abstract oil paintings in muted, pastel shades capture the transience of light. The daughter of painters Richard Carline and Nancy Carline (née Higgins) and part of a long line of artists stretching back to the 19th century, she held art classes in her south London home, and her 2024 painting "Golden Shine" was shortlisted for the 2025 John Ruskin Prize.
Albert “Al” Gury (1951–2026)
Painter and educator
In his paintings, he captured domestic scenes and landscapes in bright colors and deep shadows with confident, blocky brush strokes. He served as chair of the Painting Department at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts — where he was also once a student — between 2000 and 2022, and shaped the institution as a teacher for almost four decades.
Martha Rivers Ingram (1935–2026)
Nashville's First Lady of the Arts
Chairman and CEO of Ingram Industries, she was also a philanthropist who served on the board of many Nashville arts organizations, including the Frist Center for the Visual Arts. She also co-authored multiple books on performing arts in the city.
Chris Smith (1937–2026)
British photojournalist and sports photographer
He captured luminaries like Muhammad Ali and landmark events like the 1980 Olympics for publications like the Guardian and the Sunday Times. He won the Sports Photographer of the Year four times and individual Sports Picture of the Year two times, and exhibited his work in galleries and museums.
