Remembering Ted Berger, Christopher White, and Hudson Talbott
This week, we honor a devoted patron of the arts, the director of the Ashmolean, and a beloved children’s book illustrator.
In Memoriam is published every Wednesday afternoon and honors those we recently lost in the art world.
Ted Berger (1940–2026)
Head of the New York Foundation for the Arts
He managed nearly $23 million in grants since joining the New York Foundation for the Arts in 1973, helping bring arts education to schools. He championed many artists who are now household names, including Meredith Monk and Spike Lee.
Jerry McMillan (1936–2026)
Los Angeles photographer
Remembered as a pioneer of "photo-sculpture," he expanded definitions of the photographic medium and documented Los Angeles's burgeoning contemporary art scene. “So much of what we know about the LA art scene in that era is from Jerry’s photos,” Andrew Perchuck, interim director of the Getty Research Institute (GRI), which acquired McMillan’s photographic archives from the 1960s and ’70s in 2015, told Hyperallergic.
Uladzimir Akulau (1954–2026)
Belarusian avant-garde artist
He was a prominent participant in avant-garde artist groups in Minsk and Slutsk, Belarus. His paintings and works are held in the collections of the National Center for Contemporary Arts in Minsk and other international private collections.
Ann Harnwell Ashmead (1929–2026)
Classical archaeology researcher and curator
She specialized in Greek vase painting, depictions of cats on Near Eastern artifacts, and ancient ceramics. She was formerly a curator at Bryn Mawr College's Ella Riegel Memorial Museum.
Pete Felten (1933–2026)
Self-taught sculptor
His sculptures can be found all around Kansas, including in the Capitol Building, historical sites, and churches. He also operated a two-story gallery and studio in Hays.
Philip Farrugia (1949–2026)
Maltese artist, philanthropist, and scholar
He was an accomplished watercolorist, wrote on artists including J.M.W. Turner and Caravaggio, and created the nationally beloved children's book character Puttinu. He also served as chairman of Public Broadcasting and the National Book Council in Malta.
Iqbal Hussain (1950–2026)
Fearless painter of life in Lahore
His sometimes controversial paintings chronicled everyday moments in Lahore’s Heera Mandi, Pakistan. He also taught at the National College of Arts in the city.
Jon Kudelka (1972–2026)
Australian political cartoonist
He was a political cartoonist for more than 30 years since selling his first cartoon at nine years old. In his work, he called out anti-science perspectives and government bureaucracy and ineptitude.
Opila Rabha (d. 2026)
Indian textile artist and preservationist
The master weaver brought the traditional clothing of the Rabha community to the world. She was also an important figure in the promotion and preservation of tribal textile traditions.
Hudson Talbott (1949–2026)
Children's book author and illustrator
He published more than 20 children's books on everything from the Holocaust to the painter Thomas Cole to time-traveling dinosaurs. His clients included the Museum of Modern Art, and his work was adapted into films and plays.
Christopher White (1930–2026)
British scholar of Dutch and Flemish art and museum director
He was the director of the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford University and wrote a much-lauded book on Rembrandt. He previously worked at the department of prints and drawings at the British Museum, as director of Colnaghi Gallery in London, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
