Hisachika Takahashi, Japanese Artist and Studio Assistant to Rauschenberg and Fontana, Dies at 85

Hisachika Takahashi, an artist from Japan and a studio aide to Robert Rauschenberg and Lucio Fontana, has passed away at the age of 85, as reported by the Tokyo gallery Misako & Rosen. Born in 1940 in Tokyo, he pursued sculpture studies at Tama Art University and relocated to Milan in 1962, financing his move by selling a commissioned battleship sculpture. He worked alongside Crippa and Fontana while establishing his own Untitled series (1966–67). In 1969, he was invited to New York by John de Menil, leading to a nearly 40-year collaboration with Rauschenberg. Takahashi's artistic focus was on memory, with recent exhibitions in Liverpool, New York, and Amsterdam. He is survived by his wife, Agathe Gonnet, and son, Hummingbird.