Acclaimed French artist Christian Boltanski dead at 76

Christian Boltanski is regarded as one of the main contemporary French artists of his generation. Photo: AFP

Christian Boltanski, one of France's top contemporary artists whose multimedia works probed the meaning of mortality and memory, died on July 14 aged 76, a former museum director announced.

"He was sick. He was a private man who hid things as long as he could," said Bernard Blistene, former director of the Pompidou museum which hosted an exhibition of Boltanski's work last year.