John Chamberlain

1927 Born in Rochester, Indiana, United States

1943–46 Serves in US Navy; deployed to the Mediterranean and Pacific

1951–52 Attends the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois

1955–56 Studies at Black Mountain College, North Carolina

1957 First solo exhibition, at Wells Street Gallery, Chicago

1959 Included in exhibition, Recent Sculpture USA, at Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York

1960 Included in exhibition, Annual exhibition, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

1961 Included in Biennial of São-Paulo, Brazil; included in exhibitions: Carnegie International, at the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Annual exhibition, at the Art Institute of Chicago

1962 Included in exhibition, Annual exhibition, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

1964 Included in Venice biennale, Italy; included in exhibition, Painting and sculpture of a decade, at Tate Gallery, London, England

1965 Included in exhibition, Annual exhibition, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

1966 Receives John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship; included in exhibition, Annual exhibition, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

1967 Returns to New York; included in exhibition, Carnegie International, at Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh

1968 Completes film trilogy starring Taylor Mead: Wedding night, The secret life of Hernando Cortez and Wide point; included in exhibition, Annual exhibition, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

1970 Included in exhibitions: New York painting and sculpture 1940–70, at Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

1971 Solo exhibition, John Chamberlain: a retrospective exhibition, at the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, New York; completes edition of the multiple Le molé at Gemini GEL, Los Angeles, California

1972 Included in exhibition, Film-video-photographs-projection, at Louisiana Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark

1973 Included in exhibition, Whitney biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

1975 Travelling solo exhibition, John Chamberlain: the Texas pieces, originating at Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, Texas; included in exhibition, Sculpture: American directions 1945–75, at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

1976 Included in exhibition, 200 years of American sculpture, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

1977 Receives John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship

1978 Receives commission for the Federal Plaza in Detroit, Michigan; included in travelling exhibition, Art about art, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

1980 Moves to Sarasota, Florida

1982 Travelling solo exhibition, John Chamberlain: an extended exhibition, organised by DIA Art Foundation, New York; included in exhibition, Documenta 7, Kassel, West Germany

1983 Solo exhibitions: at Art Museum of the Pecos, Marfa, Texas; John Chamberlain reliefs 1960–82, at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida; John Chamberlain, sculpture and works on paper, at Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio

1984 Receives the Brandeis University Creative Arts Award, Wooster, Massachusetts; solo exhibition, John Chamberlain/esculturas, at Palacio Cristal, Madrid, Spain

1985 Completes residency at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Maine, Connecticut

1986 Retrospective exhibition, John Chamberlain: sculpture 1954–1985, at Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; travelling solo exhibition, John Chamberlain: oils, originating at Galerie Rudolf Zwirner, Cologne, West Germany

1987 Receives commission for The colored gates of Louisville: The inevitable return of the indefatigable Dr Fahey, Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts, Louiseville

1991 Travelling retrospective, John Chamberlain, originating at Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Baden-Baden, Germany

1996 Travelling solo exhibition, John Chamberlain: current work and fond memories, sculptures and photographs 1967–95, originating at Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

2000 Solo exhibition at Pace Wildenstein, New York

2002 Solo exhibition at Waddington Galleries, London

2005 Solo exhibition at Waddington Galleries, London

2006 Symposium, It's all in the fit: the work of John Chamberlain, Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas

2011 John Chamberlain died in New York City.

Kate Buckingham, 2006
This chronology builds upon the excellent biographical information published in the exhibition catalogues John Chamberlain: oils (Munich: Galerie Fred Jahn, c. 1986) and John Chamberlain: recent work (New York: Pace Gallery, c. 1992).