RIP Philip Van Aver

Photo for EVG from May 2015 by James Maher 

Philip Van Aver, a local artist, activist, and familiar presence in the neighborhood for more than half a century, died on Jan. 23. He was 86. 

Van Aver began his career in the early 1960s as part of San Francisco's artistic and literary scene, holding his first solo exhibition in Los Angeles in 1962. For more than six decades, he worked almost exclusively in his signature small-format gouache and ink paintings on paper, creating densely layered images that fused classical references, decorative motifs and personal obsessions. 

A longtime resident of the Lower East Side, Van Aver lived in the same apartment here since 1969 and became deeply embedded in neighborhood life. He chronicled the East Village through decades of change, often sketching in and around Tompkins Square Park, where generations of neighbors came to know him.

His work blends art history, vernacular culture, and queer New York imagery, often placing figures drawn from vintage ads and ephemera in dreamlike scenes where beauty and decay coexist. 

 

That vision earned a place in the collections of MoMA, the San Diego Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and others. As an illustrator, his work appeared in New York magazine, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and The New York Times 

 

Beyond his art, Van Aver was committed to Lower East Side organizing. He worked with Community Board 3 and the Landmarks Commission, supported CHARAS and other local groups, and remained active with the Coalition for a District Alternative (CoDA) and the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative. 

Friends describe him as both a meticulous artist and a devoted witness to the neighborhood's cultural history. 

"He was a fine artist, activist and a fixture of Tompkins Square Park chronicling the East Village for over 50 years," a neighbor told us. "We will miss him dearly." 

In May 2015, Van Aver shared his life story for this EVG post.