Richard Artschwager was an American painter and sculptor whose celebrated career defied categorization. Associated at different times in his career with Pop, Optical, Minimalist, and Conceptual Art, Artschwager freely traversed classifications to create his unique blend of humorous, inventive work. “Sculpture is for the touch, painting is for the eye. I wanted to make a sculpture for the eye and a painting for the touch,” he said about his practice. Among his best-known works is the witty Table and Chair (1963–1964), a pair of laminate-covered blocks that serve dually as representations of furniture and as functional objects. Born on December 26, 1923 in Washington, D.C., Artschwager studied at Cornell University and was also...