Paul Jenkins

1923 Born in Kansas City, Missouri, United States of America

1938-41 Studies at Kansas City Art Institute, Missouri; serves as apprentice in ceramic factory with James Weldon

1943-46 Serves in United States Naval Air Corps as pharmacist’s mate

1948-52 Under GI Bill scheme studies at Art Students League, New York under Morris Kantor and Yasuo Kuniyoshi

1953 Travels to Italy, Spain, and England before settling in Paris, France

1954 First solo exhibition, Studio Paul Facchetti, Paris

1955 Solo exhibition, Zoe Dusanne Gallery, Seattle

1956 Returns to New York; solo exhibition, Martha Jackson Gallery, New York; co-edits, Observations (New York: George Wittenborn)

1961 Included in exhibition, Annual exhibition, Whitney Museum of Art, New York and again in 1963, 1965; included in Carnegie international, Carnegie Institute Museum of Art, Pittsburgh and again in 1967

1964 Solo exhibition, Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hannover, West Germany

1965 Travels to Spain

1966 Co-producer of film, The ivory knife: Paul Jenkins, which is shown at Museum of Modern Art, New York and receives Golden Eagle Award at Venice Film Festival Travels to USSR. Publishes play, Strike the Puma (Paris: Èditions Gonthier, 1966)

1967 Receives silver medal for painting at the Biennial exhibition, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.  Strike the Puma produced off-Broadway, New York

1971 Travelling solo exhibition, originating at the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Texas

1972 Solo exhibition, Paul Jenkins: works on paper, originating at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; solo exhibition, San Francisco Museum of Art, California

1974 Solo exhibition, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Charleroi, Belgium

1976 Completes lithograph, Phenomena Franklin’s Kite, Imprimerie Mourlot, Paris, published by Transworld Art Corporation, New York

1977 Included in exhibitions, American postwar painting, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Quelques Americains en Paris, Centre National d’Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou, Paris

1979-80 Completes monoprint editions and intaglio prints at Tyler Graphics Ltd, Bedford Village, New York comprising Katherine Wheel, Four Winds (I), East Winds (II), West Winds (III), Emissary, Himalayan Hourglass, Over the Cusp

1980 Receives Officier des Arts et Lettres from Republic of France

1981 Solo exhibition, Palm Springs Desert Museum, California

1983 Invited by Jack Lang, French Minister of Culture, to participate in colloquium Culture in Crisis at the Sorbonne, Paris

1986 Solo exhibition, MR Galleria d’Arte Contemporaneo, Rome, Italy. Writes theatrical production, Shaman to the Prism Seen, presented by the Paris Opera in 1987

1987 Solo exhibition, Musée Picasso, Antibes

1988 Commissioned to create and paint a silk decor for a performance at the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, China

1994 Travelling solo exhibition, L’Eau et la Couleur, throughout France

1997 Solo exhibition, The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown. Receives Life Achievement Award, Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown; the medal of the City of Paris, from the French Cultural Counsellor of New York

1998 Included in exhibition, Masters of Color and Light: Homer, Sargent and the American watercolour movement, Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York; Three Americans: Sam Francis, Paul Jenkins, Mark Tobey, Galerie Wazzau, Davos, Switzerland

1999 Solo exhibition, Hofstra Museum, Hampstead, New York

2000 Solo exhibitions, The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown; Viaggio in Italia, Basilica Palladiana, Vicenza; Broken silences, Vero Beach Museum of Art, Florida. Receives Benjamin Clinedinst Medal from the Artists’ Fellowship, New York

2005 Solo exhibitions, Redfern Gallery, London; Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille

2012 Paul Jenkins died in New York.

Barbara Delano © Tyler Graphics Ltd., revised Kate Buckingham, 2007
This chronology provides an overview of selected biographical information, major solo and group exhibitions held within the artist's own lifetime.