Brent Sikkema, a 75-year-old American art dealer and co-owner of the prominent Manhattan gallery Sikkema Jenkins & Co., was found dead in a Rio de Janeiro apartment, prompting an investigation by homicide detectives in Brazil, according to state police. The Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro State indicated that its homicide department was probing the circumstances surrounding Sikkema’s death. They reported that forensics work had been carried out at the property where Sikkema’s body was discovered, and were also in the process of interviewing witnesses and gathering more information to shed light on the case. The U.S. Consulate in Rio verified the death of a U.S. citizen.
According to reports from the Brazilian newspaper O Globo, Sikkema was allegedly killed with a sharp object. Although authorities have yet to release detailed information, they confirmed that the body was found on Monday. Originally established in 1991, Sikkema Jenkins & Co. features the works of various artists, including Jeffrey Gibson, Arturo Herrera, Sheila Hicks, Vik Muniz, and Kara Walker, and is located on 22nd Street near the Chelsea Piers. Sikkema began his career at the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, New York, in 1971, where he worked as the director of exhibitions. He went on to open his first gallery in Boston, Massachusetts in 1976.
In 2021, during a visit to Zurich, Switzerland, Mr. Sikkema described himself as a “chaos kind of guy” on Instagram and revealed that Brazil and Cuba were his favored type of destinations.