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1923
Born in Kansas City, Missouri.

Early Years
While in high school, studies at the Kansas City Art Institute, makes drawings from a model and paints watercolors he calls "interior landscapes" related to caves he visited in the Ozarks, rivers, campfires and other forms of nature. Is ejected from class for eating the still life. As Albert E. Elsen quotes the artist in his monograph: "For me the pear is to be eaten and experienced, not painted." Works weekends and summers in ceramics with James Weldon, pouring clay slip into molds, applying glazes and creating clay sculptures of heads and figures that he then fires. The kiln reveals the transformation of color: the dry opaque glazes prior to the firing which then become subtly translucent or vitally defined in density. Frequent visits to the renowned Asian collection of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art [then the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery], where he is strongly affected by the monumental Chinese fresco of Buddha, the polychrome sculptures of the Bodhisattva, Kuan-Yin (11-12th century), Indian bronzes, especially Shiva, and statues of lohans in meditation.   In writing about this early time in his life, the artist states:   “These Eastern attitudes fostered in me a sense of mystery about the universe that has drawn me all my life.  Eastern art has inspired, nourished and helped me enter a state of mind where dualism seemed normal.  Knowing that you are two instead of one allows you to see and perceive more than one thing at the same time.” [Anatomy of a Cloud, p 40]  Meets Frank Lloyd Wright in 1940 when his great-uncle, the Reverend Burris Jenkins, pastor of the First Community Church in Kansas City, Missouri, commissioned Wright to rebuild his church after a fire destroyed the building on Linwood Boulevard.  [This church is now called the Community Christian Church.]  Frank Lloyd Wright advises the aspiring young artist to consider agriculture as a more solid pursuit to the vagaries of being an artist. On his great-uncle's suggestion, visits with Thomas Hart Benton at his home to discuss his intention to be a painter. Thomas Hart Benton asks the artist to return when he was 21. By that time, Paul Jenkins was in the US Naval Air Corps during WWII and didn't make the return visit.

1944-47
In 1944, from the United States Maritime Service enters the US Naval Air Corps. Paints watercolors of Kabuki dancers and makes what the distinguished art historian Albert E. Elsen describes as "Durer-esque" black and white graphite drawings.  Is drawn to the teachings of Lao Tse Tung in the Tao Te Ching which he describes in a December 5, 1945 letter as "masterpieces in simplicity." He later donates in 1969 a Chinese dragon robe with Taoist symbols to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. After his discharge from military service at the end of February 1946, studies playwriting with George McCalmon at the Carnegie Institute of Technology [now Carnegie Mellon University] and continues to paint and draw on his own.

1948-52
Under the G.I. Bill, studies with Yasuo Kuniyoshi for four years at the Art Students League in New York where, in 1951, he meets Mark Rothko.  Kuniyoshi gives Jenkins free use of his studio in New York during the summers. [Yoshio Ozawa in his essay on Kuniyoshi works in the Fukutake Collection, 2013]. Frequent visits to the Frick Collection to see Goya, Rembrandt's Self-Portrait, Turner, Georges de la Tour, Vermeer, Bellini, Holbein. In New York, paints Sea Escape, 1951, a key work on paper using "water as his means and meaning" [Albert E. Elsen in the monograph Paul Jenkins, published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, 1973]. Invited by Martha Graham to observe her dance classes in 1951, he makes several drawings of her.  Meets Jackson Pollock and Barnett Newman in New York. In reading P. D. Ouspensky's In Search of the Miraculous, discovers the ideas of G. I. Gurdjieff. 

1953
Travels to Italy where, during a stay of several months in Sicily, he works on canvas in Taormina. Travels to Spain where he is deeply moved by the Prado. Settles in Paris, meeting Jean Dubuffet in December at his exhibition of "Terres Radieuses" at the La Hune. Frequents Michel Tapié, Pierre Restany, Etienne Martin, Zoe Dusanne, Kenneth B. Sawyer, as well as other American artists living there at the time. Working flat and pouring paint on paper and primed canvas provides a greater sense of totality. The unique abstract ébauches in oil of Gustave Moreau reveal to him the structure and inherent luminosity of color. He later writes an article entitled "Gustave Moreau:  Moot Grandfather of Abstraction," published by Art News [vol. 60, no. 8 December 1961]. In the illuminated density radiating from the subject in the pastels of Odilon Redon, particularly in La Coquille [The Conch Shell], he sees a specific kind of emanating light existing only in the pastels. He did not find either the imagery of Moreau's canvases or the phantasmagoria subject matter of Redon's charcoals of any interest for him. Discovers Hokusai's Manga in Paris, Psychology and Alchemy by Carl Gustav Jung and the I Ching: Book of Changes.

1954
The flatness of the reflected lights at night on the Seine assumes a compelling verticality which disrupts the intruding horizon line and moves forward in a frontal configuration, evoking a sensation of nearness. First solo exhibition: Studio Paul Facchetti in Paris, Édouard Jaguer writes the text, Lumière d'Ambre. In Paris, meets Martha Jackson; Peter, Charles and Jean Gimpel, and Mark Tobey. Works with Winsor Newton powdered pigments and chrysochrome, a viscous enamel paint. Group exhibition "Divergences" at the Galerie Arnaud in Paris. Visits the Henri Matisse chapel in Vence. 

1955
First solo exhibition in the United States at the Zoe Dusanne Gallery in Seattle. The Seattle Museum is the first museum to buy his work. Participates in group exhibitions at the Martha Jackson Gallery in New York; the Petit Palais, Galerie Jean Larcade and "Signes Autres" at the Galerie Rive Droite in Paris. Travels to London from Paris to see Mark Tobey's exhibition at ICA [Institute of Contemporary Art]. Travels from Paris to New York in July of 1955 on the SS Liberté. In New York, comes to know Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Ad Reinhardt, and, with George Wittenborn, Robert Motherwell.  During his year-long stay in New York, visits Mark Rothko's studio on the West side, near what is now Lincoln Center.

1956
First solo exhibition in New York takes place at the Martha Jackson Gallery in March. John I. H. Baur buys Divining Rod for the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Observations of Michel Tapié is published by George Wittenborn in New York. Invited by Peter Cochrane to exhibit in a group show, The Exploration of Paint, at Arthur Tooth & Sons in London the following season. Visits Jackson Pollock's studio in Springs and sees his recent paintings, as well as black and white drawings to be shown at the Gimpel Fils Gallery in London. On his return to the city, gives Pollock a copy of Herrigal's Zen and the Art of Archery, presently in the library of the Pollock-Krasner House in Springs. Returns to Paris. After a visit to the Gimpels in Ménerbes in July, Lee Krasner stays at Jenkins' studio in Paris where she later receives a call from Clement Greenberg informing her of Pollock's fatal car accident on August 11.  Arnold Newman makes the first of what became over several decades, a continuing series of photographs of the artist in Paris and in New York. Meets Henri Michaux at the Odilon Redon exhibition at the Orangerie in Paris. Group exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art in New York; in Paris, with the Galerie Stadler, Galerie Rive Droite, Galerie Jean Larcade and in Sculpteurs et Peintres Abstraits Américains de Paris at the Galerie Arnaud.

1957
Peggy Guggenheim buys the canvas Osage from his studio in Paris, this work is soon included in his solo exhibition at the Galerie Stadler in Paris. Is aware of the Gutai Group in Osaka through Michel Tapié. Hideo Hayahasi and Mr. Yamamoto of the Tokyo Gallery visit his atelier, rue Decrès. Participates in group exhibitions at Arthur Tooth & Sons in London and at the Whitney Museum in New York. Exchanges studios with Joan Mitchell for two years; he works in her St. Mark's Place studio in New York, and she works in his studio on the rue Decrès in Paris. Meets the writer, James Jones, and his wife, Gloria, in New York and they remain lifelong friends.  

1958
In late 1957, at the St. Mark's Place studio in New York, begins the paintings entitled Eyes of the Dove, which continue into 1959. The title was inspired by a story told to the artist by Harold Rosenberg concerning a rabbi who intoned “the eyes of the dove” on his visits to various synagogues. To the artist, the story held the meaning that “the eyes of the dove see everything but never the same thing twice.”   At the Gutai exhibition at the Martha Jackson Gallery in New York, is invited by Jiro Yoshihara to work with the Gutai in Osaka, an invitation that he does not implement until 1964.   Joseph Hirshhorn buys Dakota Ridge from his exhibition at the Martha Jackson Gallery in New York. Participates in exhibitions at Arthur Tooth & Sons, London, the Carnegie Institute Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, and the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.


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1959-1960
In Paris, James Jones is of the first to buy a painting from the Eyes of the Dove series:  Turtle Gold.  Works with dry pigments mixed with acri-medium, and in oil. Studies the writing of Kant and Goethe. Uses an ivory knife to guide the flow of paint. Influenced by Goethe's color theories and drawing on his study of Immanuel Kant, begins to title his works Phenomena, followed by a key phrase or word. Albert E. Elsen quotes the artist regarding his choice of the plural of phenomena: “We see one thing, but are never one. We are many things, but gravitate toward the single point.  It is an acknowledgment of the variables which make the plural [of Phenomenon] ever present.” [Elsen, p 22] Travels to Spain, meets the poet and critic, Juan-Eduardo Cirlot in Barcelona, who later writes about Jenkins' work. Obtains a cold-water flat in New York on 12th Street between Avenues A and B. Begins gradually to work in acrylic.

1961
First exhibition at the Galerie Karl Flinker in Paris; James Jones writes the catalogue text, "Moving Shapes without Name."  The exhibition continues the evolution of the image against a white ground and evidences the recent development of monochrome paintings. The Paintings of Paul Jenkins is published by Éditions Two Cities in Paris with texts by Kenneth B. Sawyer, Pierre Restany and James Fitzsimmons.

1962
Travels in Europe.   Meets Albert E. Elsen in the Rodin Museum in Paris. Henri Michaux visits his Paris studio. Gradual encroachment of the granular veils in the paintings reveals a new sense of substance integrated on the canvas and "another kind of light, a reflecting or incandescent light."  [Elsen, Paul Jenkins, p. 77]   The artist continues his exploration of monochrome paint on canvas, including works in grisaille. Participates in group exhibitions at the Musée des Arts décoratifs, Musée du Louvre and Musée d'Art moderne in Paris and at the Whitney Museum in New York.

1963
Publication of Jenkins by Jean Cassou, Éditions de la Galerie Karl Flinker, Paris. Group exhibitions at the Musée d'Art moderne in Paris, at the Art Institute in Chicago, and at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Obtains the downtown on Broadway in New York from Willem de Kooning.  The photographer David Douglas Duncan takes prismatic photographs of the artist in Paris.

1964
First retrospective takes place at the Kestner-Gesellschaft of Hanover, with the catalogue text by Wieland Schmied. Filming of The Ivory Knife: Paul Jenkins at Work, produced by Martha Jackson in New York with original percussion score by Irwin Bazelon. Travels to Japan for his exhibition at the Tokyo Gallery. At the suggestion of Joseph Campbell, visits Ise and experiences the profound impact of its architectural elements within the sacred environment. With Bernard Leach, travels in Japan to see the works of Hamada. After having been invited by Jiro Yoshihara to come to Osaka in 1958, works with Jiro Yoshihara and Gutai in Osaka. Travels to India, visits Bombay, Agra, the Ajanta caves in Aurangabad. In New Delhi, is struck by the independence of the color worn against the landscape. Donates bronze head of Dylan Thomas by Ibram Lassaw and David Slivka to the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff, accepted by Richard Burton and his foster father, Phillip Burton, during a presentation at The Poetry Center of the YM-YWHA at 92nd Street in New York.

1965
Travels to Madrid, visits L'Escorial, and then to Biarritz. Publication of Seeing Voice Welsh Heart by the Éditions de la Galerie Karl Flinker in Paris; original lithographs on stone printed by Fernand Mourlot, with poems by Cyril Hodges. Group exhibitions at the Whitney Museum in New York and at the Pennsylvania Academy of Arts in Philadelphia.

1966
Travels in Russia, visits Moscow, Leningrad and Kiev. In Zagorsk, sees for the first time the icons of Andreiev Roublev, whose intensity and force impress him greatly. The Ivory Knife is shown at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and receives the Golden Eagle Award in Venice. Publication of his play, Strike the Puma, by Éditions Gonthier, Paris. In New York, pursues the study of Jungian concepts with Dr. Erlo van Waveren. Harry Abrams proposes publishing a monograph book on his work.

1967
Over the next several years the artist paints large works on primed canvas in which grays and granular whites predominate.   What Albert E. Elsen describes as "the coming of the grays," came about through the artist's search "to find another temperature" and become in touch with a new sense of “structure, or substantial substance."   Awarded the silver medal in painting during the 30th Biennial of the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Places a trunk of photographs, correspondance and writings on deposit with the Beinecke Library at Yale University. Exhibits a work on canvads in Dix Ans d'Art Vivant at the Fondation Maeght in St-Paul-de-Vence.

1968
Strike the Puma is produced off-Broadway, directed by Vasek Simek, with two large-scale canvases painted by the artist for the stage set, as well as a mannequin torso (painted in 1967).   Begins to make unique glass sculptures in Venice with Egidio Costantini, introduced to him by Mark Tobey.  Harry Abrams decides against integrating what the artist terms his "black-and-white autobiographical photomontages" into his forthcoming Abrams' monograph published in 1973. These elements later evolve into Anatomy of a Cloud, published by Harry N. Abrams in 1983.


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1971
Retrospective at the Houston Museum of Fine Arts and the San Francisco Museum of Art, organized by Gerald Nordland and Philippe de Montebello. Jean-Louis Barrault visits his studio in New York. Sculpts two-ton piece of French limestone at the Sculptors' Symposium at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum in New York. At the inauguration of the Rothko Chapel in Houston, donates a letter written to him by Mark Rothko concerning his trip to Paris where the two artists visited museums, notably L'Orangerie [for Les Nymphéas], to explore different solutions for a protective distance between the viewer and the paintings regarding the chapel then in preparation.

1972
"Paul Jenkins: Works on Paper," an exhibition of watercolors, is presented at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., then travels for two years in the United States. After his exhibition in London with the Gimpel Fils Gallery, travels to Cornwall with Peter Gimpel to see the dolmens.  Completes The Four Seasons, original lithographs on stone for Abrams Original Editions.   At Triton Press, Jenkins creates Sanctuary, described by the artist and printer Harry Lerner as a "light graphic" to differentiate it from traditional collotype.

1973
Paul Jenkins, with a text by Albert E. Elsen, is published by Harry N. Abrams in New York. First drawings for Mandala Meditation Sundial, a sculpture project for a park. Sees the prehistoric stones at Carnac in France. Emergence of the key autobiographical collage, Horizon Findings.   Receives an honorary Doctor of Humanities from the Lindenwood Colleges in Missouri.

1974-76
Retrospective at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Charleroi. Casts Meditation Mandala Sundial in bronze and in brass. On primed canvas and paper, continues to explore through veils of color the Newtonian prism and to investigate translucent and opaque light, revealed and hidden forms. Finishes Boy Man Man Boy, pivotal collage for Anatomy of a Cloud. In 1974-75, attends series of lectures by Meyer Schapiro at Columbia University in New York. Creates original lithographs on stone at Atelier Mourlot in Paris, including a diagram for Meditation Mandala Sundial.

1977
Begins St. Croix series of watercolors and paintings and is strongly influenced by the physicality of working outside, reminiscent of Taormina where he was confronted by color in a direct and decisive way. Participates in An Unmarried Woman by Paul Mazursky, filmed in his studio in New York. Works on the autobiographical collages. Mandala Meditation Sundial and Shakti Samothrace are cast in bronze at Tallix Foundry, New York. From his work on canvas, Jean Erdman creates a visual environment for Shining House, a dance piece about Pelé, a goddess in Hawaiian mythology. Requests the return of his trunk of photographs, correspondence and writings on deposit with the Beinecke Library at Yale University since 1967, elements of which become integrated into the artist's evolving autobiographical collages published in Anatomy of a Cloud by Harry N. Abrams in 1983.

1978
Exhibits Anatomy of a Cloud, collages, paintings and sculptures, at the Gimpel Weitzenhoffer Gallery in New York. Casting of two sculptures into bronze, Excalibur and Echo Chamber, at Tallix Foundry, New York.

1979
During a long stay in the Caribbean, impasto begins to appear in the paintings. Completes Phenomena Forcing a Passage at the Mark, a decisive painting to him in discovering the scraped veils with prism concentrates.


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1980
Named Officer of Arts and Letters by the Republic of France. Participates in the D. H. Lawrence Festival in Taos and Santa Fe, New Mexico. At Shidoni Foundry, near Santa Fe, begins construction of full-scale section of Meditation Mandala Sundial in steel.

1981
Retrospective at the Palm Springs Desert Museum. In conjunction with the preparation of Anatomy of a Cloud, creates collages in honor of Jean-Louis Barrault. These collages are shown at the French Cultural Services of the French Embassy in New York. At the request of Jean-Louis Barrault, these works travel to the theatre of the Renaud-Barrault Company, Le Théâtre du Rond-Point in Paris, to inaugurate La Maison Internationale du Théâtre, whose insignia is created from a work by the artist.  Creates original lithographs on stone in Canada at Sword Street Press.   Continues to build full-scale elements of the Meditation Mandala sculpture in steel at the Shidoni Foundry in Tesuque, New Mexico; these elements are later installed in the Sculpture Garden of the Hofstra Museum.

1982
Publication of Paul Jenkins by Alain Bosquet, Éditions Georges Fall, Paris, in conjunction with the exhibition at the Galerie Georges Fall, then visited by President François Mitterrand. The Fonds national d'Art contemporain du ministère de la Culture et de la Communication purchases Phenomena Saturn Observes. The director, Alan Schneider, enters Anatomy of a Cloud into his workshop of actors at the University of California at San Diego. Receives the Humanitarian Award from the National Committee of Arts for the Handicapped. Begins to use granular poured veils on scraped prism forms; abstract collage elements integrate themselves in the works on canvas.

1983
Named Commander of Arts and Letters by the Republic of France. Participates in the colloquium in Paris organized by Jack Lang on creation and its development. Anatomy of a Cloud, an autobiographical book of what the artist calls "word impressions" and collages, is published by Harry N. Abrams in New York and receives the silver medal from the Art Directors Club.

1984
The collages Homage to Jean-Louis Barrault and Tibetan Remnants are shown at the Musée d'art contemporain of Dunkirk.

1985
Creates a medal, in bronze dipped in silver and struck at La Monnaie in Paris, for the French Center of Civilization and Culture of New York University. Solo exhibition at the Gimpel Weitzenhoffer Gallery at FIAC in Paris. Jean-Louis Martinoty proposes the creation of a ballet to Jeux composed by Debussy.

1986
Writes Shaman to the Prism Seen, a dance drama. Exhibits his autobiographical collages at the Butler Institute of American Art in Ohio. Travels to London for his exhibition with the Gimpel Fils Gallery and to Tokyo for his exhibition with the Gallery Art Point. Visits Okayama for the collection of works by Yasuo Kuniyoshi and discovers an early painting he last saw leaning against the wall in Kuniyoshi's 14th Street Union Square studio in New York during his Art Students League years. The billowing and vibrantly colored silks of the entrances to the temples in Nara and Kyoto juxtaposed with the monumental stillness of the architecture leaves a lasting impression. Exhibition-installation at Shidoni Foundry near Santa Fe, of the construction in steel of a portion of Meditation Mandala.

1987
Retrospective of his works on canvas at the Musée Picasso in Antibes. The Paris Opera presents his dance-drama, Shaman to the Prism Seen, in the Salle Favart, within the context of the new series "Carte Blanche," initiated by Jean-Louis Martinoty. Paints two canvases 30 x 40 feet each for the stage set, together with vertical paintings on canvas as sentinel elements for the stage, as well as costumes and silks, and creates a prism dais form for Shaman. Music by Henri Dutilleux; directed by Simone Benmussa. Creates original lithographs on stone at Atelier Franck Bordas in Paris, including one for the Paris Opera. Completes two mosaics with Heidi Melano in Biot, one of which is acquired by the City of Antibes. Creates an original lithograph on stone in triptych for a bicentenary edition on parchment of the U.S. Constitution published by Galerie Art Concorde in Paris, and printed at Atelier Clot Bramsen Georges, Paris.

1988
Commissioned to create and paint a silk décor for a performance at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing for "The Return of Marco Polo," organized by the International Committee for the Safeguard of Venice and the Great Wall. In Beijing paints six banners of 40 x 15 feet, a backdrop of 60 x 75 feet and banners 30 x 3 feet for the Great Wall. Publication by Atelier Franck Bordas in Paris of Euphories de la couleur, a portfolio of original lithographs on stone, with texts by André Verdet. Printed in book form by Imago Terrae.

1989
The Musées de Nice present the original painted stage sets for Shaman to the Prism Seen, together with watercolors and large-scale paintings from the last five years at the Galerie des Ponchettes and the Galerie d'art contemporain. Euphories de la couleur is shown at the Maison des Écrivains in Paris, organized by Hugues de Kerret. Architect Yves Bayard creates Meditation Tower, a structure based on the broken prism concept of the artist and featuring his large-scale stained glass windows


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1990
Exhibition of the silks painted in China and in Paris at the Castello Doria in Portovenere. Receives the medal of the city of Menton. Invited to Israel by Abba and Suzy Eban, and is based in Mishkenot Sha'ananim in Jerusalem; visits the tomb of Maimonides in Tiberius. Travels to Japan for his exhibition with Gallery Art Point in Tokyo.

1991
Exhibits two original lithographs on stone at the Associated American Artists in New York, Masters of Contemporary Printmaking. Exhibition of Conjunctions and Annexes, a series of polyptychs on canvas, at the Gimpel Weitzenhoffer Gallery, New York, together with the publication of a book of the same title with a text by Pascal Bonafoux. Invited by Tadashi Suzuk, travels to Japan in August to attend the 10th anniversary of his theatre festival in Toga. Begins to work on original lithographs on stone at the Atelier Franck Bordas in Paris. Exhibition of Grid Panel Prisms, a further series of polyptychs on canvas, at the Gimpel Fils Gallery in London.  In December, returns to Japan for the première in Mito of Ivanov, an adaptation by Tadashi Suzuki of the Chekhov play, where Suzuki integrates the silks painted in China and in Paris as elements of the stage set and for Anna's costume.

1992
Exhibition of watercolors at the Roswitha Haftmann Gallery in Zurich. Seven Aspects of Amadeus and the Others, lithographs on stone printed by Atelier Franck Bordas, are shown at the Basel Art Fair. Writes a text as a one-act play in reference to the lithographs of the Amadeus series, published by Éditions Galilée in Paris. Visits Florence and returns to the frescoes by Giotto and Fra Angelico. Exhibition of the Amadeus lithographs at Atelier Franck Bordas in Paris. Exhibition of recent watercolors and Amadeus lithographs at Associated American Artists Gallery in New York.

1993
Associated American Artists Gallery presents a selection of collages and watercolors at the Armory show in New York. Travels to Palo Alto, California where he works on monotypes at Smith Andersen Editions. Exhibits in Collection of the Maeght Fondation, a Choice of 150 works, Fondation Maeght, St-Paul. Exhibitions of two groups of collages in the fall: in Paris at the Yoshii Gallery and in New York, at Associated American Artists Gallery.

1994
Writes Prism Moon to the Shaman, an allegorical tale about color. Associated American Artists Gallery presents selected recent paintings at the Armory show in New York. Inauguration of L'Eau et la Couleur, a traveling exhibition in France of watercolors in conjunction with the Paris Opera performance of his dance-drama, Shaman to the Prism Seen, together with recent watercolors, including major scale works created in Paris in November of 1993. The historian, Frank Anderson Trapp, writes an in-depth study of the work in watercolor for the catalogue text. Travels to New Mexico for the Santa Fe Institute of Fine Arts. Continues to work on monotypes at Smith Andersen in Palo Alto. His sculpture, Meditation Mandala Sundial, is installed in the Hofstra University Museum Sculpture Garden.

1995
Exhibition of recent works on canvas at Associated American Artists in New York. The Chateau-Museum of Cagnes-sur-mer mounts an extensive exhibition of recent collages including collage doors from his Paris studio made in the fifties and not previously shown. The City of Nice exhibits the series of lithographs Seven Aspects of Amadeus and the Others. Galerie Proarta in Zurich shows recent paintings and watercolors; excertps from the text by poet and philosopher Jacques Garelli are published in the catalogue. ArtCurial in Paris mounts an exhibition of his lithographs.

1996
Receives an honorary doctorate in humanities from Hofstra University. Participates in the 50th Anniversary Exhibition of Gimpel Fils in London. Travels to Milan for exhibition at Lorenzelli Arte.

1997
The Butler Institute of American Art presents an exhibition of recent work from the last five years. Receives the Life Achievement Award from the Butler Institute, together with the medal of the City of Paris presented by Pierre Buhler, the French Cultural Counsellor of New York. Exhibitions of Cardinal Recognitions at the Galerie Georges Fall in Paris; and, Francis Jenkins Mathieu at Associated American Artists in New York. Elected to the National Academy, New York. Completes Five Incantations, five original lithographs on stone printed by Atelier Bordas in Paris, for the Galerie Georges Fall. Merchant Ivory features a selection of his works from the fifties in the film, A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries, from the novel by Kaylie Jones, based on her years in Paris with her parents, the writer James Jones and his wife, Gloria.

1998
Creates Entrance Shaman, five original lithographs on stone printed by Atelier Bordas in Paris. Elected an honorary member of the Royal Cambrian Academy in Wales. Group exhibitions: Masters of Color and Light: Homer, Sargent and the American Watercolor Movement, the Brooklyn Museum of Art; On Paper, Associated American Artists; Three Americans [Drei Amerikaner]: Sam Francis, Paul Jenkins, Mark Tobey, at Galerie Wazzau, Davos, Switzerland; Collection of the Fondation Maeght, St-Paul-de-Vence; Regard sur l’estampe en France de 1945 à nos jours, PACA, traveling in France. Elected an honorary member of the Royal Cambrian Academy in Wales.

1999
Creates At Stroke of Twelve, an original stone lithograph for the Print Club in New York presented in October. The Hofstra Museum mounts an exhibition of works on canvas from the years 1954-1960, and the Joseph Rickards Gallery in New York exhibits works from the 1957-59 transitional series of paintings, Eyes of the Dove. A painting from the Eyes of the Dove is shown in the traveling exhibition and catalogue, Les Années de Combat, 1951-1962, organized by Présence d’Art Contemporain in Angers centering on the Paris art review Cimaise and the Galerie Arnaud. Invited to write text about the Gutai for the catalogue of the exhibition at the Jeu de Paume in Paris, and reconnects with Gutai artists he knew from Osaka who have traveled to Paris for the opening.


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2000
The Butler Institute of American Art in Ohio mounts his exhibition Water and Color in celebration of their new wing. Receives the Benjamin Clinedinst Medal from the Artists' Fellowship in New York. The City of Vicenza mounts Viaggio in Italia, an extensive exhibition of works on canvas and watercolors in the Basilica Palladiana, with a fully illustrated catalogue of the works shown with a text by Beatrice Buscaroli and others. Creates lithograph on stone with watercolor for the limited edition of La Misère des Philosophes by Jean-François Lyotard, published by Editions Galilée, Paris. Microcosms, an exhibition of small scale works on canvas, opens at the Joseph Rickards Gallery, New York. In honor of the New York visit of the Rev. Seiyu Kiriyama, exhibits recent paintings at the Agon-shu Agama Gallery. Seiyu Kiriyama Kancho performs the Sacred Fire Ritual at the Unitarian Church. Broken Silences, the first retrospective exhibition of collages, is shown at the Vero Beach Museum of Art, Florida. Moves from his studio acquired from Willem de Kooning in 1963.

2001
Invited by the Rev. Seiyu Kiriyama Kancho, travels to Kyoto in February for the monumental outdoor Fire Ceremony; visits stone gardens, temples and shrines and experiences the intensity of their stillness. Le Centre d'Art Contemporain of Bouvet-Ladubay in Saumur, presents a comprehensive exhibition of recent works on canvas.

2002
From the artist's studio, David Douglas Duncan purchases a large-scale painting, which he then donates to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri. Travels to London to see the Barnett Newman exhibition at the Tate Gallery. Feu Sacré, a theatre performance by Macha Méril with a large-scale backdrop of the artist's painting, Phenomena Strike the Tiger, texts by George Sand and music by Chopin interpreted by Jean-Marc Luisada, is performed in Bordeaux.

2003
Writes eulogy for Al Hirschfeld, published in the Art Students League quarterly, Linea. Travels to London for his exhibition at the Redfern Gallery, and to Prato in Italy.

2004
Japanese television, NHK, films interview in the studio about Yasuo Kuniyoshi and the Art Student League years.

2005
Works on canvas from the 60s and the 90s are presented at Robert Green Fine Arts in Mill Valley, California; and watercolors at Galerie Proarta in Zurich.   Creates specific works on canvas in New York for As Above So Below, a temporary installation at the Abbaye of Silvacane, a 12th century Cistercian abbey in Roque d'Anthéron, near Aix-en-Provence.  A painting from this series is shown at the Maison Cézanne in Aix-en-Provence.  Œuvres Majeures, an exhibition of works on canvas together with watercolors, opens at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille and is attended by over 40,000 viewers.  Receives the gold medal of the City of Lille, awarded at the exhibition inauguration.  Works on canvas 1954-1960 are shown at the Redfern Gallery in London, with catalogue text by Kent Minturn; followed by an exhibition of works 1954-2003 at Galleria Open Art, Prato, with accompanying catalogue text, Cosmogonie Interiori, Bruno Corà.

2006
Water and Color, more than 50 watercolors, including 5 large scale, is shown at the Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock.  Feu Sacré, with Macha Méril and Jean-Marc Luisada, is performed in Paris at the Théâtre Mogador, with a large-scale backdrop of the artist's painting, Phenomena Strike the Tiger, texts by George Sand and music by Chopin.  The canvas, Iguana (1956) is shown in L'Envolée Lyrique: Paris 1945-1956, Musée du Luxembourg, Paris.  Exhibition at the Maison des Princes, in Pérouges.  Exhibition of works on canvas from the 70s at Robert Green Fine Arts, Mill Valley, California.

2007
The exhibition Paul Jenkins in the Fifties: Space, Color and Light, works on canvas from 1955-1960 is shown at D. Wigmore Fine Art, New York.  The Ballet Western Reserve performs two evenings of dance choreographed to his paintings in the collection of the Butler Institute of American Art in Ohio.  Travels to London for his exhibition of recent paintings at the Redfern Gallery, and to Venice for a retrospective presentation of his works at the Cornice Art Fair by Galleria Open Art.  Revisits Padua to see again the frescoes of Giotto in the Scrovegni chapel.  The artist donates close to 5,000 pieces from his archive to the Archives of American Art of the Smithsonian Institution.  This donation includes correspondence from Willem de Kooning, Beauford Delaney, Jean Dubuffet, Thomas B. Hess, Philippe Hosiasson, Joan Mitchell, Mark Tobey among many others.  In addition, the collection contains a rich and extensive correspondence with the Seattle art dealer Zoe Dusanne, and art historians Albert E. Elsen and Frank Anderson Trapp.  Donates over 400 black-and-white theatre photographs of Jean-Louis Barrault to the Special Collections & Archives of the Fenwick Library of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.  Selected and acquired by the artist in 1980, the photographs are of stage productions, theatre events and interior views of the company's successive theatres from 1979 reaching back to 1947 when the Renaud-Barrault Company was founded.

2008
The Archives of American Art of the Smithsonian Institution receives more than 1,000 additional items for the Paul Jenkins Papers.   Continues to work on canvas and in watercolor.

2009
Recent Acquisitions—the Paul Jenkins Papers, selected documents are on view in the New York City location of the Archives of American Art. Paul Jenkins in the 1960s and 1970s:  Space, Color and Light is shown at D. Wigmore Fine Art in New York City; Sandra H. Olsen of the UB Art Galleries in Buffalo writes the catalogue text.  The Pollock-Krasner House & Study Center in East Hampton, New York exhibits "Under Each Other's Spell":  Gutai and New York, featuring work from the artist's Gutai collection — acquired during his stay in 1964 when he worked with the Gutai in Osaka — together with a painting by the artist from that time. The exhibition travels to The Harold B. Lemmerman Gallery, New Jersey City University, New Jersey. Participates in the panel Gutai: A 'Concrete' Discussion of Transnationalism, at the Guggenheim Museum. Donation to the Archives of American Art of eight watercolor drawings from 1977 by the late architect Frank Prince of a proposed building to adjoin the artist's sculpture park, Meditation Mandala Sundial.

2010
The Galleria Civica Ezio Mariani di Seregno exhibits a selection of watercolors with an accompanying publication. The UB Art Galleries of the State University of New York at Buffalo mount two exhibitions concurrently: Paul Jenkins in the 1960s and 1970s, expanded to include additional large-scale works, and "Under Each Other's Spell": Gutai and New York. A retrospective presentation of works on canvas takes place at the Palazzo Pacchiani with more recent works at Galleria Open Art in Prato. Receives the Seals of the City of Prato. As part of the festivities celebrating the opening of its new building, the Crocker Art Museum exhibits Paul Jenkins: The Color of Light, 50 watercolors including large-scale and works originally created for the Paris Opera, together with selected paintings on canvas.

2011
Paintings from the 60s and 70s are shown in the Redfern Gallery in London; Michel Peppiatt writes the catalogue text.

2012
This is the start of something
I begin all over again
T
his is a time of birth
Having died has hardships
but being reborn is refreshing
like being at the source
of an eternal spring in Missouri
Cold and clear the water


Paul Jenkins written September 15, 1992



Tel qu'en Lui-même enfin l'éternité le change. Stéphane Mallarmé

2012
A memorial celebrating the life of Paul Jenkins is held at the Morgan Library & Museum, New York.

2014
Paintings and watercolors are shown in the exhibition Gravity's Edge at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C. Exhibition On Canvas and Paper 1989-2009 at the Redfern Gallery, London. Exhibition at the Galleria Open Art, Prato in conjunction with the retrospective at the Museo di Pittura Murale in S. Domenico, Prato. Robert Miller Gallery in New York presents a survey exhibition of works on canvas from the 1960s to the 2000s, including four paintings from the artist's Chapel of Meditation on view together for the first time.

2015
The Butler Institute of American Art in Ohio presents a Tribute exhibition of works on canvas 2004-2010. 
The British Museum in London acquires Katherine Wheel, a 1979 monoprint made at Tyler Graphics, New York.
The artist's work is shown in the group exhibitions On the Front Lines at the Art Students League of New York, based on artists and the GI Bill; Abstraction at Robert Miller Gallery in New York; and Martha Jackson Graphics at the UB Galleries at the University of Buffalo.
Solo exhibition at the Pinacoteca of Gaeta: Colors Unseen curated by Giorgio Agnisola.
A large-scale canvas from 1969 is among several Jenkins' works on canvas shown in the group exhibition A Tribute to David K. Anderson at the University of Buffalo, November 2015 to March 2016.
The Cleveland Museum of Art acquires an important work from 1960, Phenomena When I Looked Away, one of the last paintings in oil.

2016
The University of Buffalo Art Galleries exhibit Chapel of Meditation, along with an expanded version of On the Front Lines. A seminal canvas work in triptych from 1963, Phenomena Galileo Galilei, is shown in the exhibition The Women Who Made Modern Art Modern at X Contemporary, Miami.
The Fondation Maeght in St-Paul-de-Vence exhibits a large canvas from its collection in Espace Espace!
Abbot Hall Art Gallery of Lakeland Arts, Kendal, Cumbria UK, mounts an exhibition of selected canvases, together with a catalogue.

2017
In Venice to coincide with the Venice Biennale, a grisaille work on canvas from 1962 is shown in the exhibition Intuition at the Palazzo Fortuny.
Exhibition of Made in America at the Galleria Open Art, Prato.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                          


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