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Sam Francis Biography
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1923 |
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Born June 25 in San Mateo, CA
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1943 - 1948 |
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Served in the United States Army Corps and began painting whilst convalescing from an injury
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1949 |
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B.A. University of California at Berkeley, CA
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1946 - 1950 |
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Began painting in San Francisco
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1950 |
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M.A. University of California at Berkeley, CA
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1950 - 1958 |
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Lived and worked in Paris, with travels to Mexico, Japan and Europe
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1959 |
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Lived in New York City
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1959 - 1961 |
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Lived in Bern, Switzerland
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1961 |
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Established permanent home in Santa Monica
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1968 |
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Received honorary PhD from University of California at Berkeley, CA
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1970 |
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Established the Litho Shop to print his own lithographs in Santa Monica
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1973 - 1974 |
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Lived and painted primarily in Tokyo, Japan
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1975 - 1977 |
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Began collaborating with Garner Tullis on monotpyes at the Institute of Experimental Printing
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1981 |
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Appointed Commandeur de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, by the French Ministry of Culture
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1984 |
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Established Lapis Press to publish artists' books
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1987 - 1989 |
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Founded the Sam Francis Medical Research Center to support the research of infectious and environmental diseases
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1993 |
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Donated ten major paintings to The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
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1994 |
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Honoured with Distinguished Alumnus Award by the University Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley, which also then created the Sam Francis Scholarship
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1994 |
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Died November 4, Santa Monica
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| Selected Exhibitions |
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2009
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"Time & Place: Los Angeles, 1958-1968", Kunsthaus Zürich, Switzerland
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2008
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'Choices', Galerie Willy Schoots, Eindhoven
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2008
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Action Painting, Foundation Beyeler, Riehen
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2008
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"Time & Place: Los Angeles, 1958-1968", Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
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2007
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Grand Gestures: The Gordon F. Hampton Collection, UAM - University Art Museum, Long Beach, CA
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2007
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Art Market Now, The Columns, Seoulq
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2006
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Afro & incotri e Confronti italia America, Gallerie d'Arte Moderna di Udine GAMUD, Udine
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2005
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Intuitive Reflection, Art Forum Ute Barth, Zurich
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2005
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Austrian contemporary Art and Postwar Painting, Museo de Art Contemporaneo de Monerrey MARCO, Monterrey, NL
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2004
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Samuelis Baumgarte Galerie, Bielefeld
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2004
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Galerie Delaive, Amsterdam
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2004
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Baukunst Galerie, Cologne
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2003
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Timothy Yarger Fine Art, Beverly Hills, California, Special Proofs, 1963-1989
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2003
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Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
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2003
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Iwaki City Art, Fukushima, Japan
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2003
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Oita Art Museum, Oita, Japan
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2002 - 2003
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Galerie Iris Wazzau, Davos, Switzerland
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2002
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Galerie Andreas Baumgarti, Munich
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2002
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Lovers Fine Arts, Gstaad, Switzerland
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2002
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Museum of Modern Art, Toyama, Japan
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2002
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Kawamura Memorial Museum, Chiba, Japan
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2002
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Museum of Art, Eime, Japan
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2002
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University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, Michigan
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2001
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Alan Cristea Gallery, London, in association with Jonathan Novak Contemporary Art
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1999 - 2001
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Sam Francis: Paintings 1947-1990, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles- travelled to Menil Collection, Texas; Malmo Konsthall, Sweden; the Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain; Galleria Comunale d'Art Moderna e Contemporanea, Rome
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2000
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Lawrence Rubin, Greenberg, Van Doren Fine Art, New York
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2000
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Galerie Delaive, Amsterdam, Holland
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2000
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Richard Gray Gallery, New York and Chicago
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2000
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Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo and Osaka, Japan
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1999
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Leslie Sacks Fine Art, Los Angeles; Robert Green Fine Arts, California; Gallery Faurschou, Copenhagen; Ikon Ltd., Los Angeles; Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles; Galerie Pascal Retelet, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France; Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris; Baukunst Galerie, Cologne; Pace Editions, New York; Galerie Loeper, Hamburg
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1999
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Retrospective: Sam Francis: Paintings 1947-1990, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
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1998
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Dorothy Blau Gallery, Florida; Thomas Segal Gallery, Baltimore; ACA Galerie, Münich; Gallery Guy Pieters, Knokke, Belguim; Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Los Angeles; Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam; Galleria d’Arte il Gabbiano, Rome
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1997
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Sam Francis: The Archetypal Image, Frederick M. Weisman Museum of Art, Pepperdine University of Malibu – travelled to The Fundación Caja de Madrid, Spain
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1997
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André Emmerich Gallery, New York; Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles; Museo d’Arte, Mendrisio, Switzerland; Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago; Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam; Galerie Pascal Retelet, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France
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1996
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Smith-Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto; Sogetsu Art Museum, Tokyo; Galerie Delaive, Amsterdam; Gagosian Gallery, Los Angeles; Gallery Guy Pieters, Knokke, Belgium; Galerie Michael Haas, Berlin; Galerie Proarta, Zürich
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1995
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The Last Paintings of Sam Francis at The Los Angeles County Museum of Art
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1995
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André Emmerich Gallery, New York; Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles; Grunwald/UCLA/Armand Hammer Museum, Los Angeles;
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1995
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Kunstverein Ludwigsburg, Germany; Les Années Parisiennes 1950-1961 at the Galerie National du Jeu de Paume, Paris
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1995
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'The Last Paintings of Sam Francis' a group of 152 small paintings (painted June through August, 1994, at the Santa Monica house studio), The Los Angeles County Museum of Art
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1994
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Honored with Distinguished Alumnus Award by The University Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley, which also then created the Sam Francis Scholarship
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1994
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Long Fine Arts, New York; Galerie Delaive, Amsterdam; Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Los Angeles; Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris; Galerie Proarta, Zurich; Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York; Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo; Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago
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1993
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Retrospective exhibition at Kunst und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn, Germany
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1993
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Galerie Pudelko, Bonn, Switzerland; Bobbie Greenfield Fine Art, Los Angeles; Michele Cohen Gallery, New York; Ochi Gallery, Ketchum, Idaho; Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angels; Galerie Iris Wazzau, Davos
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1993
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Donated ten major paintings to The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
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1992
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Galerie Daniel Papierski, Paris
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1992
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Museum van der Togt, Amsterdam, Holland
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1992
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Kukje Gallery, Seoul, Korea
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1991
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Retrospective at Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, Switzerland
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1991
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Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris; James Corcoran Gallery, Los Angeles; Angles Gallery, Los Angeles; Associated American Artists, New York; Gagosian Gallery, New York; Centre Régional d’Art Contemporain Midi-Pyrenées, France
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1990
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Associated American Artists, New York; GalleryDelaive, Amsterdam; Heland Wetterling Gallery, Stockholm; Ogawa Art Foundation, Tokyo; Ochi Gallery, Ketchum, Idaho; Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh; Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York; Smith-Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto
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1989
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André Emmerich Gallery, New York, Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris; Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London; Sun Valley Center Gallery, Idaho; Linda Farris Gallery, Seattle; Cantor/Lemberg Gallery, Birmingham, Michigan; Knoedler Gallery, London
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1987 - 1989
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Founded the Sam Francis Medical Research Center to support the research of infectious and environmental diseases
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1988
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Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York; Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris; Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo; Smith-Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto; Greenberg Gallery, St. Louis; Galerie Seoul, Korea
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1988
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Travelling exhibition throughout Japan organized by The Museum of Modern Art, Toyama and Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
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1987
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Knoedler Gallery, London; Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York; Pamela Auchincloss Gallery, Santa Barbara; Heland Thorden Wetterling Galleries, Stockholm, Sweden; G. Dalsheimer Gallery, Baltimore; Galeria Eude, Barcelona, Spain; Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles; Galerie Pudelko, Bonn, Germany; Lever/Meyerson Galleries, New York
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1986
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Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York; Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris; Nantenshi Gallery, Toyko; Angles Gallery, Santa Monica; La Mairie de Paris, France
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1985
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Galerie Kornfeld, Bern; Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris; Nantenshi Gallery, Toyko; Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago; Smith-Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto; Hokin Gallery, Florida
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1985
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National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
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1984
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Established Lapis Press to publish artists’ books
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1984
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André Emmerich Gallery, New York; Pamela Auchincloss, Gallery, Santa Barbara; Brooke Alexander, Inc., New York; Cantor/Lemberg Gallery, Birmingham, Michigan; Robert Elkon Gallery, New York; Thomas Babeor Gallery, La Jolla; Knoedler Gallery, London, UK; Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles; Steven Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco
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1983
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Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York; Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, Switzerland; Smith-Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto; Foundation Maeght, Saint Paul de Vence, France; Studio Marconi, Milan, Italy; Colorado State University, Colorado; Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris; Art Attack Gallery, Idaho; John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco; nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
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1982
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Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York; Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo, Japan; Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
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1981
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Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York; Ace Gallery, Los Angeles; Ruth Schaffner Gallery, Santa Barbara; Faith and Charity in Hope Gallery, Idaho
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1980
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Riko Mizuno Gallery, Los Angeles; James Corcoran Gallery, Los Angeles; Smith-Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto; Abbaye de Senanque, Gordes, France; Los Angeles County Museum of Art
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1979
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Retrospective of works on paper at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston – traveled to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Manila, Korea and Japan under the US International Communications Agency
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1979
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Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris, France; Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York; Brooke Alexander, Inc., New York; Art in Progress at Israel Museum, Jerusalem
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1979
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Gallery of the Cultural Center of the Phillippines, Taipei, Taiwan
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1978
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Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles; Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles; Musee National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
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1977
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Art in Progress at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art at Humlebæk, Denmark – traveled to Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Liljevalchs Konsthall, Stockholm
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1975 - 1977
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Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles
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1975 - 1977
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Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris, France
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1975 - 1977
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Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York
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1975 - 1977
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Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
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1975 - 1977
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Galerie Kornfeld und Klipstein, Bern, Switzerland
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1975 - 1977
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Smith-Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto, California
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1975 - 1977
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Began collaborating with Garner Tullis on monotypes at the Institute of Experimental Printmaking, San Francisco
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1974
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Minami Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
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1974
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Idemitsu Art Museum, Tokyo
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1972
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Retrospective solo museum exhibition at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY, which traveled to Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C.; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Texas, and Oakland Museum of Art, California. Exhibit at the Stanford University Museum of Art, CA
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1969 - 1972
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Martha Jackson Gallery, New York
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1969 - 1972
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Felix Landau Gallery, Los Angeles
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1969 - 1972
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Solo shows at André Emmerich Gallery, New York; Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles
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1968
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Solo museum exhibition at Centre National d'Art Contemporain, Paris and Kunsthalle Basel. Solo show at Minami Gallery, Tokyo
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1968
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Minami Gallery, Tokyo
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1967
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Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York
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1967
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Retrospective at Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX- traveled to University Art Museum, Berkeley; San Francisco Museum of Art
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1967
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Snow Painting performance in Naibara, Japan
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1966
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Sky painting performance over Tokyo Bay, Japan
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1961 - 1964
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Minami Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
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1961 - 1964
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Galerie Kornfeld an Klipstein, Bern, Switzerland
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1961 - 1964
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Galerie Benador, Zurich, Germany
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1961 - 1964
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Documenta III, useum Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany
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1961
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Esther Bear Gallery, Santa Barbara, California
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1960 - 1961
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Solo museum show at Kunsthalle, Bern which travels to Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
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1959
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Mural commission by the Chase Manhattan Bank
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1959
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Solo exhibition at Pasadena Art Museum, California which travels to San Francisco Museum of Art, California and Seattle Art Museum, Washington
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1958
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The Phillips Gallery, Washington, DC
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1957 - 1958
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Hyakkaten Department Store, Tokyo, Japan
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1957 - 1958
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Kintetsu Department Store, Osaka, Japan
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1956
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Martha Jackson Gallery, New York
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1956
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Galerie Rive Droite, Paris
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1956
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'12 Americans' The Museum of Modern Art, New York
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1955
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Galerie Rive Droite, Paris
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1955
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Tendances actuelles de l’Ecole de Paris III at Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland
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1952
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Galerie du Dragon, Paris
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| Links to further information |
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