Reporter murdered in Iraq

Art in America, Sept, 2005 by Stephanie Cash

Steven Vincent, 49, investigative journalist, art critic and A.i.A. contributor, was found shot dead in Basra, Iraq, on Aug. 2, just hours after he and his female interpreter, who at this writing had survived the attack, were kidnapped by masked gunmen in a police car while leaving a currency exchange shop near Vincent's hotel.

He had been working on a book about the city's history. An opinion piece by Vincent criticizing the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Basra and the infiltration of the police force by members of Shiite political groups had appeared in the New York Times two days earlier. Known to travel on his own dime, without security guards or official connections, he was the first American reporter to be assassinated in Iraq (Daniel Pearl was killed in Pakistan). An intrepid arts reporter who was affiliated with Art & Auction since 1990, Vincent was moved by the attacks of Sept. 11 and the subsequent war in Iraq, which he supported, to travel to that country in 2003. He wrote a book, In the Red Zone, about his time there, and continued to post a Web log (http:// spencepublishing.typepad.com/in_the_red_zone/); his last entry was July 26. Vincent began contributing reviews to A.i.A. in 2003; his "Report from Baghdad: Art Against the Odds," covering that city's resilient art scene, appeared in our June/July 2004 issue. A man of slight stature, he was easily recognizable around the art world for his dark suit, ponytail and cowboy boots. Among the other publications he contributed to are Harper's, the Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor and National Review. An exhibition review by Vincent appears on p. 156; several more that we have on file will run in forthcoming issues.