Renowned Abstract Painter Pat Steir, Master of Luminous ‘Waterfalls,’ Dies at 87

NEW YORK — Pat Steir, one of the most innovative and influential abstract painters of her generation, whose monumental “Waterfall” series redefined the possibilities of paint, gravity, and chance, died on March 25, 2026, in Manhattan. She was 87.

Her husband, Joost Elffers, and niece Lily Sukoneck-Cohen confirmed the death. No cause was immediately disclosed.

Born in 1938 in Newark, New Jersey, Steir emerged in the New York art scene in the 1960s and 1970s, navigating conceptual art, minimalism, and feminist perspectives while forging a singular path. She drew inspiration from Eastern philosophy, John Cage’s ideas of indeterminacy, and the natural forces of the world itself. Rather than controlling every mark, Steir often surrendered to process—pouring, throwing, and spilling paint from ladders or lifts onto towering canvases, allowing gravity to become her collaborator.

Her celebrated Waterfall paintings, begun in the late 1980s, evoke cascading water through shimmering veils of color and drips that seem both deliberate and accidental. These works, often massive in scale, blur the boundaries between abstraction and landscape, inviting viewers into immersive fields of motion and light.

“I want the paint to make the painting,” Steir once said. “It’s process, gravity and chance.”

Over a career spanning six decades, Steir exhibited at major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Guggenheim. Her work is held in prominent collections worldwide. She continued painting actively until the final weeks of her life, a testament to her enduring dedication.

Pat Steir leaves behind a legacy that challenged male-dominated narratives in painting and expanded the language of abstraction. Tributes from the art world poured in, with gallerists and curators praising her fearless experimentation and vital energy.

Also noted in recent days was the passing of Agosto Machado, a beloved Downtown New York performance and visual artist, activist, and archivist whose shrine-like sculptures appear in the current Whitney Biennial. Machado died on March 21 after a brief illness.

Steir’s death marks the close of a remarkable chapter in postwar American art. Her waterfalls will continue to flow—endlessly, luminously—in museums and memories alike.