NYC gallery owner Brent Sikkema, who palled around with Michelle Obama and artist Kara Walker, is found stabbed to death inside Rio home

A New York City art gallery owner who was friends with former first lady Michelle Obama and artist Kara Walker was stabbed to death in his Rio de Janeiro home, police said.

Brent Sikkema, 75, was found dead at 11:05 pm on Monday by his friend and lawyer in his two-storey home in the upmarket Jardim Botânico neighbourhood.

Rio de Janeiro police said they are investigating the incident as a robbery, Brazilian news channel G1 reported.

“Officers will listen to witnesses, seek additional information and take other steps to clarify the matter,” police said.

Authorities said he could have been stabbed with scissors, a box cutter or a screwdriver in the attack. No arrests have been made in the case.

Brent Sikkema, co-owner of the contemporary art gallery Sikkema Jenkins & Co. in New York City, was found dead at his home in Rio de Janeiro on Monday evening, police said. The 75-year-old was stabbed several times

Sikkema was co-owner of Sikkema Jenkins & Co., which he founded in 1991 as Wooster Gardens in Soho.

The contemporary art gallery moved to its current location in Chelsea in 1999.

Walker, known for her cut-out paper silhouettes and one of the youngest ever MacArthur Fellowship recipients, had her first show at the gallery in 1995.

Sikkema was also known for working with Anohia, Tony Feher, Sheila Hicks, Jennifer Packer, Deana Lawson, Mark Bradford, Amy Sillman, Shahzia Sikander and Arlene Shechet. ART news.

“It is with great sadness that the gallery announces the passing of our beloved founder, Brent Sikkema,” Sikkema Jenkins & Co. said. Tuesday in a statement. “The gallery mourns this tremendous loss and will carry on in his spirit.”

Born in Morrison, Illinois, Sikkema graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute and began working in the art industry in 1971 as exhibition director at Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester.

He was director of Vision Gallery in Boston from 1976 to 1980 and was its owner from 1980 to 1989.

According to Brazilian news outlet O Globo, Sikkema is said to have bought his mansion in Rio de Janeiro ten years ago and visits at least three times a year.

His Rio de Janeiro lawyer, Simone Nunes, was charged with caring for the home while he was in the United States.

Rio de Janeiro police said they are investigating whether New York art gallery owner Brent Sikkema was robbed before he was killed Monday night at his home in the upscale Jardim Botânico neighborhood. In the photo: Sikkema’s house in Brazil

Sikkema was co-owner of Sikkema Jenkins & Co., which he founded in 1991 as Wooster Gardens in Soho. The contemporary art gallery moved to its current location in Chelsea in 1999 (photo)

Brent Sikkema (left) and Kara Walker (right) attend the New York City Opera on September 11, 2007

Brent Sikkema was well known in the art world and the New York City scene. He was pictured with ESPASSO owner Carlos Junqueira in 2009 (left) and artist Jean-Michel Othoniel (right) in 2008

Born in Morrison, Illinois, Sikkema graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute and began working in the art industry in 1971 as an exhibition director at the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester.

Nunes described Sikkema as ‘a wonderful person, very kind, generous, defender of social issues.

Vik Muniz, considered one of the most respected artists in Latin America, mourned the loss of his old friend Sikkema, whom he had known for more than thirty years.

“I owe an incredible loyalty to the professional that he was, because he was one of the first galleries to have a contingent of artists who were half white, half black, half woman, half man,” Muniz said, as quoted by G1.

Luiz Zerbini remembered him as “passionate about Brazilian art, with a great sense of humor, a happy person.”

Sikkema is survived by his husband and their 12-year-old son.