ASAHIKAWA, Japan—Meissen porcelain painter Uwe Geissler died on November 17 after becoming ill while visiting the northern Japanese city of Asahikawa, Kyodo News reports. The German artist, 51, was in town for a two-day painting exhibition. Geissler worked in the famous Meissen porcelain factory for 11 years before becoming a freelance artist. He authored a number of books about how to paint porcelain in the Meissen style. Hospital staff have not disclosed the cause of his death, saying they want to speak to his family first.

BALTIMORE—Renowned Abstract Expressionist painter Grace Hartigan died on November 16 of liver failure at the age of 86, the Baltimore Sun reports. Hartigan moved to New York in 1945, quickly finding acceptance for her large, boldly colored abstract canvases. In 1953, Alfred H. Barr Jr., the founding director of the Museum of Modern Art, made her first museum purchase. In 1960, she moved to Baltimore after marrying Johns Hopkins University scientist Winston Price. The move distanced her from the New York art scene, but she joined the faculty at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in 1964 and founded its graduate school of painting, later called the Hoffberger School. Beginning in 1979, she returned to the public sphere with a MICA exhibition and a series of shows at Baltimore's C. Grimaldis Gallery. Her work is displayed at the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.

GENEVA—International art dealer Jan Krugier died on November 15 at the age of 80, Artforum reports. Krugier opened his first gallery in Geneva in 1962 on the advice of his friend, artist Alberto Giacometti. In 1987, he opened a branch in New York. He was the exclusive dealer for the Marina Picasso collection, the largest group of Picasso works outside of the Musée Picasso in Paris, and for the Alejandra, Aurelio, and Claudio Torres collection of works by Joaquin Torres-Garcia. Krugier was well known for his traveling exhibitions, and the French government presented him with the Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres in 1996 for his outstanding contribution to French art fairs.

SANTA BARBARA—Artist, teacher, and writer Walter Gabrielson died on November 12 of complications from a rare form of anemia, the Los Angeles Times reports. Gabrielson, 73, was a figurative artist who believed that art should tell stories. He founded the lithography department at San Fernando Valley State College, now Cal State Northridge, in 1966 and taught art there until 1981. He lived in Pasadena during his teaching years and shared a studio with artist and critic Peter Plagens. Gabrielson's work was shown in galleries across the U.S. and is included in a number of public and private collections, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.