Andrew da Conceicao, a founding director of Stevenson, one of South Africa’s first major commercial galleries, has died at 53. The gallery announced his death on Friday, the day of his passing.

With Michael Stevenson and Kathy Grundlingh, da Conceicao founded Stevenson in Cape Town in 2003 under the name Michael Stevenson Contemporary. It was at the time one of very few commercial art spaces in South Africa, and it remains one of the most high-profile galleries not only in the country but in all of Africa, making regular appearances at international art fairs.