March 15 in Art History
6 real events recorded on March 15, the earliest from 1611. 2 artists were born , 1 died on this date.
The day's biggest moments
Born on this day 2
- 1611 Born
Born this day: Jan Fyt
Jan Fyt, a Flemish Baroque painter, was born on March 15, 1611. He is known for his refined still lifes and animal paintings, often combining elements like flowers, fruit, and game. His work showcases lush and detailed depictions of natural subjects.
Jan Fyt remains one of the leading still life and animal painters of the 17th century.
- 1829 Born
Born this day: Jean-Jacques Henner
Jean-Jacques Henner, a French painter born on March 5, 1829, is known for his masterful use of sfumato and chiaroscuro, particularly in his depictions of nudes, religious subjects, and portraits, as seen in works like Reclining Nude and Alsatian Girl.
Henner's work continues to influence the development of figurative painting with his innovative use of light and shadow.
Died on this day 1
- 1673 Died
Died this day: Salvator Rosa
Salvator Rosa, a prominent Italian Baroque painter, is renowned for his dramatic landscapes and history paintings set in dark, untamed nature. A multifaceted artist, he was also a poet, satirist, actor, musician, and printmaker. His work often featured obscure subjects from the Bible, mythology, and philosophy.
Salvator Rosa's influential works continue to captivate audiences with their unique blend of romance and intensity.
Exhibitions & salons 2
- 1913 Exhibition Landmark
New York Armory Show Run Ends
The New York presentation of the International Exhibition of Modern Art, later known as the Armory Show, ended its run at the 69th Regiment Armory on March 15, 1913. Organized by the Association of American Painters and Sculptors, the exhibition brought roughly 1,300 works by more than 300 European and American artists before a large U.S. public. Its New York installation made works by Marcel Duchamp, Henri Matisse, Paul Cezanne, Pablo Picasso, Constantin Brancusi, and other avant-garde figures a matter of public controversy rather than specialist debate. After March 15, the show moved to the Art Institute of Chicago and then to Boston, extending the shock waves beyond New York.
It accelerated American engagement with Cubism, Fauvism, and modernist collecting.
Marcel Duchamp , Pablo Picasso , Henri Matisse , Constantin Brancusi
- 2017 Exhibition
Marsden Hartley's Maine Opens at the Met Breuer
The Met Breuer opened Marsden Hartley's Maine on March 15, 2017, as part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's short-lived modern and contemporary program in Marcel Breuer's former Whitney building. The exhibition focused Hartley's career through the place he repeatedly claimed and reimagined: Maine, where his late paintings turned mountains, coastlines, fishermen, and regional identity into forceful modernist emblems. Rather than treating Hartley only as a cosmopolitan American modernist shaped by Europe, the show emphasized how local landscape, memory, and self-fashioning drove his mature work. Staged at the Met Breuer, it also exemplified the branch museum's attempt to connect modern art history to the Met's broader interpretive authority.
The exhibition sharpened Hartley's reputation as both a regional painter and a central American modernist.
Openings & foundings 1
- 1996 Opening
ARKEN Museum of Modern Art Opens
ARKEN Museum of Modern Art opened in Ishoj, near Copenhagen, on March 15, 1996. Designed by Soren Robert Lund after a 1988 architectural competition, the museum arrived during Copenhagen's year as a European cultural capital and gave Denmark a new purpose-built home for modern and contemporary art south of the city. Its ship-like, deconstructivist building was part of the statement: ARKEN was conceived as both a museum and a landmark object in a coastal landscape. The institution later developed a collection of postwar Danish, Nordic, and international art, including works by artists such as Damien Hirst, Olafur Eliasson, Ai Weiwei, Elmgreen & Dragset, and Asger Jorn.
The opening helped anchor contemporary art in Copenhagen's wider regional cultural infrastructure.