Yaacov Agam, pioneering Israeli kinetic artist and Israel Prize laureate, dies at 98

Sculptor celebrated for his vibrant geometric shapes and interactive works created the iconic Fire and Water Fountain in Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Square, among numerous other pieces

Yaacov Agam, the internationally renowned Israeli sculptor recognized worldwide as the father of kinetic art, died Sunday at the age of 98.

A recipient of the 2026 Israel Prize for Visual Arts, Agam was celebrated for his vibrant, abstract geometric shapes and interactive creations that fundamentally relied on viewer movement to be fully experienced.

President Isaac Herzog described Agam as “one of the most respected and recognized Israeli artists in the world.”

He gave the world “a unique artistic language of movement, change and renewal,” Herzog wrote in a post to X. “His works, which have become part of some of the most important museums and collections in the world, and also here at the President’s House, expressed an extraordinary creative vision and were a source of inspiration for generations of artists and creators.”

Herzog said he had been acquainted with Agam since his childhood, and “he was a fascinating man.”

“In every encounter with him, the passion, curiosity, and inexhaustible creativity that characterized him throughout his life were evident”

“Agam was a groundbreaking artist who gave Israeli creativity a unique and inspiring language,” Sports and Culture Minister Miki Zohar said in a statement. “His artistic legacy will continue to illuminate and influence generations of creators in Israel and around the world.”

The Yaacov Agam Museum in Rishon Lezion, which exhibits his works, said in a statement that “the world of Israeli art is parting from one of its groundbreaking creators.”

It described him as “one of the fathers of kinetic art in the world,” who “dedicated his life to innovative work that changed the face of modern art and influenced generations of artists around the world.”

Related: ‘Creativity is the basis of Judaism’: Yaacov Agam, father of kinetic art, receives Israel Prize

Agam’s coffin will be placed for public viewing at the museum that bears his name from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday, and his funeral procession will leave from the Rehovot military cemetery at 5 p.m., Channel 13 reported.

Born Yaacov Gibstein on May 11, 1928, in British Mandate Palestine, Agam grew up in the early Jewish settlement of Rishon Lezion. His father, Rabbi Yehoshua Gibstein, was a rabbi and a kabbalist, and Agam’s upbringing in a deeply religious home profoundly shaped his artistic vision. As a boy, he often ran away from school to the local sand dunes, observing how the wind constantly altered their shapes — a phenomenon he would later credit as the primary inspiration for his shifting, kinetic style.

In 1946, at the age of 18, Agam was arrested by the ruling British forces during Operation Agatha (known as “Black Sabbath”) when thousands of Zionist underground activists were detained, and spent several months in prison. He went on to study at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem before moving to Zurich in 1949 to study at the Kunstgewerbeschule. By 1951, he had settled in Paris, which would remain his home and creative base for the rest of his life.

Art in motion and global acclaim

Agam held his first solo exhibition in 1953 at the Galerie Craven in Paris. Early in his career, his interactive work faced criticism from some who dismissed art meant to be touched and moved as “childish” or “unprofessional.” Nevertheless, Agam persisted, pioneering an art form in which the physical piece remained still, but the art itself “moved” as the viewer changed perspective. He quickly gained international recognition, exhibiting at the first Paris Biennale, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Guggenheim, and the Centre Pompidou, which hosted a retrospective of his work in 1972.

Beyond sculpture, Agam’s expansive creativity led him to design clothing, compose music, and experiment with video. In 1996, UNESCO awarded him the Jan Amos Comenius Medal for the “Agam Method,” a pioneering approach to the visual education of young children.

Iconic works and Jewish identity

Many of Agam’s most famous works were large-scale public installations. They include Double Metamorphosis III at Pompidou (1965), the monumental fountain at the La Défense district in Paris (1975), and the iconic Fire and Water Fountain in Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Square (1986).

His Jewish heritage was a constant thread throughout his abstract creations. He designed the 32-foot-tall Hanukkah menorah at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 59th Street in New York City, recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest. Other prominent works highlighting his faith include Jacob’s Ladder, Pace of Time, and Faith – Visual Pray, a piece representing both Jewish and Christian faiths presented to Pope Francis in 2014.

The Israel Prize and final reflections

Just weeks before his passing, Agam — confined to a wheelchair — was awarded the 2026 Israel Prize in a personalized, intimate ceremony at the Yaacov Agam Museum of Art in Rishon Lezion. Surrounded by his vivid creations, the artist reflected on the deep connection between his dynamic art and his faith in an interview with The Times of Israel.

“When I look around at my works, what I see is beyond the pieces themselves. I turn my head and see something different. Everything changes here. That’s the reality. Reality in other art is set and narrow, and here it isn’t – it’s open, and it changes and brings you closer to seeing the reality of Hebrew and Judaism.”

Reflecting on his lifelong philosophy of movement, Agam noted:
“I grew up with an instinctive sense of creativity, and that’s the basis of Judaism, the sense of creativity, that nothing stands in one place, that change is based on the viewer’s position, and things look different every time. The reality is what shifts, and that’s to open your thoughts and creativity and understanding and expression of the reality in another way.”

He added, “Reality changes all the time, too, and so does one’s outlook. Judaism was always the basis of my work because my father was a rabbi; it was always about values, about the worldview of Judaism.”

A lasting legacy

Agam’s legacy is permanently cemented in his hometown of Rishon Lezion, where the Yaacov Agam Museum of Art opened in 2018. The museum, which he helped design alongside architect David Nofar, houses the winding 72-foot-long Panoramagam and a central Jacob’s Ladder pillar. Outside the building stand the 29 “Pillars of Clila,” dedicated to his first wife, Clila, who died at the age of 49.

Agam is survived by his second wife, French harpist Chantal Thomas d’Hoste, and his son from his first marriage, Ron Agam, an award-winning artist based in New York City.