Daniel Spoerri, Nouveau Réaliste and Eat Art pioneer, dies at 94

Daniel Spoerri, a leading figure of Nouveau Réalisme and founder of Eat Art, died on November 6, 2024, at age 94. Born in 1930 in Galati, Romania, as Feinstein, he began his career as a dancer at the Bern Opera before turning to art in Paris. There, at the Chambre n.13 of the Hôtel Carcassonne, he created his first "tableaux pièges" (snare-pictures)—tables with objects glued in place, then hung vertically as three-dimensional still lifes. These works are held by major museums including MoMA New York. Spoerri co-signed the Nouveau Réalisme manifesto by Pierre Restany alongside Yves Klein, Jean Tinguely, Arman, and others. In 1968 he opened the Restaurant Spoerri in Düsseldorf, followed by the Eat Art-Galerie in 1970, hosting edible art shows by Roy Lichtenstein, Dieter Roth, Joseph Beuys, and Niki de Saint Phalle. He also wrote a treatise on the meatball. In the early 1960s, he spent nine months on the Greek island of Simi, exploring traditional cuisine. Later, he created large environmental projects such as DyLaby at the Stedelijk Museum and Cocrodome at the Centre Pompidou. His most ambitious work is the Giardino di Daniel Spoerri in Seggiano, Tuscany, a sculpture park featuring over 100 works by about 50 artists, including Eva Aeppli. The garden, on the slopes of Monte Amiata, serves as an autobiographical environmental artwork. Until January 31, 2025, his work is featured in the group show "Quello che vedete non è né cibo né arte" at Galleria Gaburro in Milan.