Prominent New York art dealer Brent Sikkema has allegedly been stabbed to death in his Rio apartment, and authorities in Brazil are now investigating the alleged homicide. The Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro State said that the 75-year-old’s body was found on Monday night, January 15. Sikkema co-owned the contemporary Chelsea art gallery Sikkema Jenkins & Co.
“It is with great sadness that the gallery announces the passing of our beloved founder, Brent Sikkema," Sikkema Jenkins & Co. said in an online statement.
Sikkema’s lawyer Simone Nunes called authorities to the art dealer’s apartment. She told the newspaper O Globo that she went to check on Sikkema after not hearing from him over the weekend. She had a key for house-sitting, which she used to enter the apartment. She found him dead inside.
A forensic examination of Sikkema’s body is now being conducted by experts. An investigation is underway. “Officers will listen to witnesses, are looking for more information and are carrying out other inquiries to shed light on the case,” the police said, according to New York Post.
Possible suspect caught on camera
{{/usCountry}}A forensic examination of Sikkema’s body is now being conducted by experts. An investigation is underway. “Officers will listen to witnesses, are looking for more information and are carrying out other inquiries to shed light on the case,” the police said, according to New York Post.
Possible suspect caught on camera
{{/usCountry}}Security camera footage which was released after Brent Sikkema’s death shows a mysterious man outside his residence in the early hours of Sunday, January 14. The footage, provided by the security firm Gabriel, was turned over to Rio’s Civil Police.
The video shows a man waiting outside the entrance of Sikkema’s house after exiting a car parked in front of it. He was seen getting out through the passenger side. He then enters the property and emerges 14 minutes later, removes his gloves and reenters the car, this time on the driver’s side. He then drives away.
“The investigation is ongoing,” a spokesperson for the police department said. “Witnesses are being interviewed and efforts are underway to identify the perpetrator of the crime and to clarify the case.”
Who was Brent Sikkema?
Sikkema wasborn in 1948 in Morrison, Illinois. He graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute and took up a job as director of exhibitions at the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, New York, in 1971.
According to Artforum, “From 1976 to 1980, he served as director of Boston’s Vision Gallery, which he purchased in 1980 and ran until 1989. Two years later, he moved to New York, where he founded Wooster Gardens within months of his arrival. In 1996, he named Michael Jenkins director of the gallery; three years later, Sikkema Jenkins & Co. moved north to the burgeoning Chelsea arts district, landing on West Twenty-Second Street, with Jenkins becoming a partner in the operation in 2003.