Art News

New York artist & furniture dealer Robert Loughlin dies

NEW YORK, N.Y. (AP).- Robert Loughlin, who painted a square-jawed man he dubbed “the brute” around New York City and sold vintage furniture to art world stars, died Tuesday. He was 62. Loughlin was fatally struck by a car near his home in North Bergen, N.J., as he crossed a major thoroughfare on foot, said Gary Carlson, his partner of 31 years. Loughlin was famous among designers as a “picker,” someone who visits flea markets and thrift stores looking for vintage furniture to re-sell. His buyers have included art world stars such as Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat. He also was a prolific painter with roots in the gritty 1980s street art scene. He painted his signature image, the stern face of man, on walls and objects around the city starting in the 1980s. Loughlin moved to New York in the early 1980s after reading about furniture dealer Alan Moss in New York magazine, Carlson said. Once he arrived, Loughlin