New York abstract painter Rudolf de Crignis died December 23 at Cabrini Hospice in Manhattan. He fell victim to a fast-acting brain tumor, inoperable and incurable, diagnosed just one month earlier. His friends and loved ones were shocked by the suddenness of his illness—and the swiftness of his death.

Larry Poons is famous for having been famous young. The painter, who has just shown ambitious new work at Jacobson Howard in Manhattan and Sideshow in Brooklyn, had his first solo show in 1963 at age 26 at Richard Bellamy’s legendary Green Gallery. His signature geometric “dot” paintings were a highlight of MoMA’s 1965 op art survey, “The Responsive Eye.”