Editing 1940 in art (section)

==Births==
* January – [[Anthony d'Offay]], [[British people|British]] art dealer
* [[January 2]] – [[Peter Young (artist)|Peter Young]], [[Americans|American]] [[Painting|painter]]
* [[January 6]] – [[John Byrne (Scottish playwright)|John Byrne]], [[Scottish people|Scottish]] painter and writer
* [[January 24]]
** [[Vito Acconci]], American conceptual artist, installation artist, performance artist and filmmaker (d. [[2017 in art|2017]])
** [[Mel Bochner]], American conceptual artist (d. [[2025 in art|2025]])
* [[February 22]] – [[Billy Name]], born William Linich Jr., American [[photographer]], collaborator with Andy Warhol
* [[March 7]] – [[Hannah Wilke]], American painter, [[sculptor]] and photographer (d. [[1993 in art|1993]])
* [[March 9]] -  [[Giancarlo Impiglia]], Italian born Italian-American painter
* [[March 20]] – [[Mary Ellen Mark]], American photographer (d. [[2015 in art|2015]])
* [[April 11]] – [[Marcia Tucker]], American museum curator (d. [[2006 in art|2006]])
* [[April 16]] – [[Joan Snyder]], American painter
* [[April 30]] – [[Burt Young]], born Gerald DeLouise, American actor, painter, and author (d.   [[2023 in art|2023]])
* [[May 1]] – [[Elsa Peretti]], Italian jewelry designer (d. [[2021 in art|2021]])
* [[May 11]] – [[Juan Downey]], Chilean-American video artist (d. 1993)
* [[May 25]] – [[Nobuyoshi Araki]], Japanese photographer
* [[June 17]] – [[Alton Kelley]], American poster and album artist (d. [[2008 in art|2008]])
* [[July 5]] – [[Chuck Close]], American "photorealistic" painter (d. 2021)
* [[July 27]] – [[Pina Bausch]], German neo-expressionist choreographer and dancer (d. [[2009 in art|2009]])
* [[August 23]] – [[Galen Rowell]], American wilderness photographer (d. [[2002 in art|2002]])
* [[September 6]] – [[Elizabeth Murray (artist)|Elizabeth Murray]], American painter, [[printmaker]] and [[Drawing|draughtsman]] (d. [[2007 in art|2007]])
* [[September 10]] – [[David Mann (artist)|David Mann]], American painter
* [[September 26]] – [[Arno Rink]], German painter and professor (d. [[2017 in art|2017]])
* [[September 27]] – [[Rudolph Moshammer]], [[Germans|German]] fashion designer (d. [[2005 in art|2005]])
* [[October 22]] – [[Ashley Jackson (artist)|Ashley Jackson]], Malaysian-born [[Yorkshire]] landscape watercolourist
* ''date unknown''
** [[Germano Celant]], Italian art critic, curator and historian (d. [[2020 in art|2020]])
** [[Stevan Knežević]], [[Serbian people|Serbian]] painter, sculptor and professor of art (d. [[1995 in art|1995]])
** [[Anthony McCall]], British-born American avant-garde installation artist, projected film
** [[Dušan Otašević]], Serbian painter and sculptor
** [[Jaune Quick-to-See Smith]], [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] painter and printmaker ** [[Mel Bochner]], American conceptual artist (d. [[2025 in art|2025]])