Pat Steir

Life & Legacy

Iris Patricia Steir (née Sukoneck; April 10, 1938 – March 25, 2026) was an American painter and printmaker. Her early work was loosely associated with conceptual art and minimalism, however, she was best known for her abstract dripped, splashed and poured "Waterfall" paintings, which she started in the 1980s, and for her later site-specific wall drawings.
Steir had retrospectives and exhibitions all over the world, including the Tate Gallery in London, and shows at the Brooklyn Museum and the New Museum of Contemporary Art that traveled throughout Europe. She won numerous awards for her work, and is thoroughly represented in major museum collections in the United States and abroad, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and the Tate Gallery. She was a founding board member of Printed Matter bookshop in New York City, and of the landmark feminist journal, Heresies, first published in 1977. Steir also taught art at Parsons School of Design, Princeton University, and Hunter College. She lived and worked primarily in New York City as an adult. She lived in Greenwich Village.