Willem de Kooning

1904 Born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands

1916 Begins apprenticeship with the decoration firm of Jan and Jaap Gidding

1917–21 Enrols in night classes at Rotterdam Academy of Fine Arts and Technology

1926 Emigrates to United States of America and settles in Hoboken, New Jersey; works initially as a house painter and later completes lettering, sign painting, and carpentry

1927 Moves to New York, New York; works for AS Beck shoe stores on window designs

1935 Employed by the Federal Arts Project in the mural division on the Williamsburg Federal Housing Project, Brooklyn, New York

1936 Begins to paint full time; included in exhibition, New horizons in American art, at Museum of Modern Art, New York

1937 Receives commission for Medicine mural for the Hall of Pharmacy at the 1939 World. s Fair in New York, alongside murals by Michael Loew and Stuyvesant van Veen

1938 Begins to paint first series of Woman; becomes close friends with David Smith and Barnett Newman

1940 Designs sets and costumes for Les Nuages, performed by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo at the Metropolitan Opera, New York

1944 Included in exhibition, Abstract and Surrealist art in America, Mortimer Brandt Gallery, New York

1946 Creates backdrop for the ballet Labyrinth, performed by Marie Marchowsky at the New York Times Hall

1948 First solo exhibition, at Charles Egan Gallery, New York; teaches at Black Mountain College, Black Mountain, North Carolina; included in exhibition, Annual exhibition, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

1949 Included in exhibition, Annual exhibition, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

1950 Included in Venice biennale, Italy; included in exhibition, Annual exhibition, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; teaches at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut; begins second series of Woman paintings

1951 Included in exhibitions: Abstract painting and sculpture in America, at Museum of Modern Art, New York; Annual exhibition, at the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, where he receives the Logan Medal; included in Biennial of São-Paulo, Brazil

1952 Included in exhibition, Carnegie international, at the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

1953 Travelling retrospective exhibition, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; included in Biennial of São-Paulo, Brazil

1954 Included in Venice biennale, Italy

1955 Included in exhibition, Carnegie international, at the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh

1956 Included in Venice biennale, Italy

1957 Completes his first print by illustrating Harold Rosenberg's poem 'Revenge' in Twenty-one etchings and poems (New York: Morris Gallery, 1960)

1959 Included in exhibition, Documenta 2, Kassel, West Germany

1960 Makes first lithographs at University of California, Berkeley

1961 Included in exhibition, Carnegie international, at the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh

1962 Becomes a citizen of the United States of America

1963 Moves to Long Island, New York; receives the President's Medal, Washington, DC; included in exhibition, Annual exhibition, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

1964 Receives Guggenheim International Award and Presidential Medal of Freedom; solo exhibition, Willem de Kooning retrospective: drawings, Allan Stone Gallery, New York; included in exhibition, Documenta 3, Kassel, West Germany

1965 Travelling retrospective exhibition, Willem de Kooning: a retrospective exhibition, at Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Massachusetts; included in exhibition, Annual exhibition, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

1966 Included in travelling exhibition, Two decades of American printmaking, which travels to Japan; Italy; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

1967 Included in exhibition, Annual exhibition, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

1968 Travelling retrospective exhibition, Willem de Kooning, originating at Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam

1969 Included in exhibitions: The new American painting and sculpture, at Museum of Modern Art, New York; Annual exhibition, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; travels to Japan

1972 Completes multiple Untitled at Gemini GEL, Los Angeles; included in exhibition, Annual exhibition, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

1973 Receives Albert Einstein Commemorative Award from Yeshiva University, New York

1974 Travelling solo exhibitions: Lithographs 1970–72, originating at Art Gallery, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa; De Kooning drawings/sculpture, organised by Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota

1976 Included in exhibition, Annual exhibition, at the Art Institute of Chicago

1977 Travelling solo exhibition, Willem de Kooning: paintings and sculpture, organised by Hirshorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC; included in exhibition, Documenta 6, Kassel, West Germany

1979 Receives Andrew W. Mellon prize (together with Eduardo Chillida); receives the Order of Orange-Nassau from the Dutch Government; solo exhibition, Willem de Kooning, at the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh; included in travelling exhibition, America and Europe: a century of modern masters from the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, originating at Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth and travelling to Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; and Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

1981 Included in exhibition, Annual exhibition, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

1983 Travelling retrospective exhibition, Willem de Kooning: the North Atlantic Light 1960–83, originating at Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam

1984 Receives Max Beckmann Prize from the city of Frankfurt am Main, West Germany; solo exhibition, The drawings of Willem de Kooning, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; travelling retrospective exhibition, Willem de Kooning retrospective exhibition, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

1986 Receives National Medal of Arts and the Mayor's Liberty Medal, New York

1987 Included in exhibition, Annual exhibition, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

1990 Solo exhibition, Willem de Kooning: works on paper 1954–1984, organised by Contempo Modern Art Gallery, Eindhoven, the Netherlands

1991 Travelling solo exhibition, Willem de Kooning: a selection of printer's proofs from the collection of Irwin Hollander, master printer, at Galeria Afinsa, Madrid

1996 Solo exhibition, Collection in context: Willem de Kooning's door cycle, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

1997 Willem de Kooning died in East Hampton, New York

Barbara Delano © Tyler Graphics Ltd; revised Kate Buckingham, 2006
This chronology provides an overview of selected biographical information, major solo and group exhibitions held within the artist's own lifetime.