1923 Born in a lightening storm in Kansas City, Missouri
1937-43 Studies at the Kansas City Art Institute, where he makes drawings from a model and paints watercolours he calls "interior landscapes" related to caves he knew in the Ozarks, rivers, campfires and other forms of nature. Works in ceramics with James Weldon, pouring clay slip into molds, and applying glazes and creating clay sculptures of heads and figures that he then fires. The kiln reveals the transformation of colour: the dry opaque glazes prior to firing which then become subtly translucent or vitally defined in density. Frequent visits to the renowned Eastern collection of the Nelson-Atkins Museum [then the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery], where he is strongly affected by the vast Chinese fresco of Buddha, the polychrome sculpture of the Bodhisattva Kuan-Yin (11th-12th century), Indian bronzes, especially Shiva, and statues of Iohans in meditation. Meets Frank Lloyd Wright in 1940 when his great-uncle, the Rev. Burris Jenkins, pastor of the First Community Church in Kansas City, Missouri, commissioned Wright to rebuild the church after a fire destroyed the building on Linwood Boulevard. On his great-uncle's suggestion, visits with Thomas Hart Benton at his home to discuss his intention to be a painter.
1944-47 From the United States Maritime Service, enters the US Naval Air Corps where he serves as a pharmacist's mate. Paints watercolours of Kabuki dancers during his time in the Naval Air Corps and makes what the distinguished art historian Albert E. Elsen refers to 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". After his discharge from military service at the end of February 1946, studies playwriting with George McCalmon at the Carnegie Institute of Technology and continues to paint and draw on his own.
1948-52 Under the G.I. Bill, studies with Yasuo Kuniyoschi for four years and with Morris Kantor at the Art Students League in New York where he meets Mark Rothko. 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.] 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 where he meets Jean Dubuffet, Kenneth B. Sawyer, as well as other American artists living there at the time. Working flat and pouring paint on paper and canvas provides a greater sense of totality.
The luminous density that radiates from the subject in the pastels of Odilon Redon, particularly in La Coquille [The Conch Shell], reveals to him a specific kind of emanating light. Discovers Psychology and Alchemy by Carl Gustav Jung and the I Ching: The Confucian Book of Chnages.
1954 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 Gimple, and Mark Tobey. Works with Winsor & Newton powdered pigments and chrysochrome, a viscous enamel paint. Visits the Henri Matisse chapel in Venice.
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. 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. During his year-long stay in New York, visits Mark Rothko's studio on the West side, near what is now Lincon Centre. In New York, comes to know Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Ad Reinhardt, and, with George Wittenborn, meets Robert Motherwell.
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. Is invited by Peter Cochrane to exhibit in a group show, The Explorations of Paint, at Arthur Tooth & Sons in London the following season. Visits with Jackson Pollock at his studio in The Springs, near East Hampton, 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 & Study Centre in the Springs. Returns to Paris. After a visit to the Gimples in Ménerbes in July, Lee Krasnner stays at Jenkins' studio in Paris where she later receives a call from Clement Greenberg informing her of Pollocks' fatal car accident on August 11. Arnold Newman makes the first of a series of photographs of the artist to span several decades in Paris and then in New York. Meets Henri Michauz 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 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 Joan Mitchell's 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 different 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.
1959-60 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 flows of paint. Influenced by Goethe's color theories, begins to title his canvases Phenomena, followed by a key phrase or word. 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 loft on Broadway in New York from Willem de Kooning. The photographer David Douglas Duncan takes prismatic photos 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. Works with Jiro Yoshihara and the 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 canvases 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.
1968 Strike the Puma is produced off-Broadway, directed by Vasek Simek. The artist paints two large-scale canvases for the stage set, as well as a mannequin torso (painted in 1967). Begins to make unique glass sculptures in Venice with Egidio Costantini, whom he met through 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.
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 they visited museums, notably L'Orangerie [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," in order 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 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 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 key painting to him in discovering the scraped veils with prism concentrates. Uses paint thickly to reveal and break down the persistent features of the Newtonian prism.
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. Athe 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 Sundial 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 an exhibition which is visited by President François Mitterrand. The Fonds national d'Art contemporain du ministère de la Culture et de la Communication purchases Phenomena Saturn Observes. Participates in the colloquium in Paris organized by Jack Lang on creation and its development. 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. 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 the music, Jeux, of Debussy.
1986 Writes Shaman to the Prism Seen, a dance drama. Exhibits his autobiographical collages at the Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown. 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 Sundial.
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 belongs to 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 presents 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, and then at the Galerie Sapone in Nice. The 7ème Rencontre des Arts Contemporains in Cannes honors Paul Jenkins in the context of their summer exhibition. Based on the Broken Prism, the architect, Yves Bayard, creates Meditation Tower, a structure based on the prism and featuring large-scale stained glass windows by the artist.
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, travels to Mito in Japan for the première 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. Travels to Zurich for his exhibition of recent paintings and watercolors at Galerie Proarta. Jacques Garelli, poet and phenomenologist, writes an expansive text concerning the paintings and watercolors, excerpts from this text are published in the exhibition catalogue. The gallery 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 mounts 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 from Pierre Buhler, the French Cultural Counsellor of New York. Exhibition of Cardinal Recognitions at the Galerie Georges Fall in Paris. Exhibition, 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. Participates in the group exhibition, Masters of Color and Light: Homer, Sargent and the American Watercolor Movement, the Brooklyn Museum of Art. Group exhibition On Paper, Associated American Artists. Exhibition Three Americans [Drei Amerikaner]: Sam Francis, Paul Jenkins, Mark Tobey, at Galerie Wazzau, Davos, Switzerland. Exhibition of the collection of the Fondation Maeght, St-Paul-de-Vence. Group exhibition Regard sur l’estampe en France de 1945 à nos jours, PACA, traveling exhibition beginning in Angers. 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 exhibition at the Jeu de Paume, Paris, and meets again Gutai artists he knew from Osaka who have traveled to Paris for the opening.
2000 Travels to the Butler Institute of American Art in Ohio where his exhibition Water and Color is shown 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. 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, mounts an extensive exhibition of recent works on canvas.
2002 Series of lectures at The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown. Travels to Les Corbières for an exhibition of recent work at Chateau Haut-Gléon. From the artist's studio in St-Paul, 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. Travels to Bordeaux for 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.
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. Interview by the Biography channel for the documentary on Jackson Pollock.
2005 A two-part exhibition of works on canvas from the 60s and the 90s is presented at Robert Green Fine Arts in Mill Valley, California. Exhibition of 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. Exhibition of works on canvas 1954-1960 opens at the Redfern Gallery in London. Exhibition of works 1954-2003 at Galleria Open Art, Prato, with accompanying catalogue, Cosmogonie Interiori, text by Bruno Corà.
2006 Water and Color, exhibition of 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 the exhibition 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 Paul Jenkins in the Fifties: Space, Color and Light, works on canvas from 1955-1960 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. Travels to 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, Philippe Hosiasson, Thomas B. Hess, 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. D. Wigmore Fine Art exhibits Paul Jenkins in the 1960s and 1970s: Space, Color and Light in New York City. 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 Paul Jenkins Watercolors. 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. Exhibitions of works on canvas at the Palazzo Pacchiani and 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.

Solo Exhibitions
1954 Studio Paul Facchetti, Paris
1954 Zimmergalerie Franck, Frankfurt-am-Main
1955 Zoe Dusanne
1956 Martha Jackson Gallery, New York
1957 Galerie Stadler, Paris
1958 Martha Jackson Gallery, New York
1958 Arthur Tooth & Sons, London
1959 Galerie Stadler, Paris
1960 Arthur Tooth & Sons, London
1960 Martha Jackson Gallery, New York
1960 Esther Robles Gallery, Los Angeles
1961 Galerie Karl Flinker, Paris
1961 Martha Jackson Gallery, New York
1962 Galerie Lienard, Zurich
1962 Galerie Karl Flinker, Paris
1962 Esther Robles Gallery, Los Angeles
1962 Galleria Toninelli, Milan
1962 Galleria Odyssia, Rome
1962 Kunstverein, Cologne
1963 Arthur Tooth & Sons, London
1963 Galerie Karl Flinker, Paris
1964 Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo
1964 Court Gallery, Copenhagen
1964 Kumar Gallery, New Delhi
1964 Martha Jackson Gallery, New York
1964 Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hanover (retrospective)
1965 Galerie Karl Flinker, Paris
1965 Gertrude Kasle Gallery, Detroit
1966 Martha Jackson Gallery, New York
1966 Galerie Agnes LeFort, Montreal
1966 Hope Makler Gallery, Philadelphia
1966 Gallery of Modern Art, Scottsdale
1968 Galerie Daniel Gervis, Paris
1968 Gallery Moos Ltd, Toronto
1968 Galerie Raber, Lucerne
1968 Martha Jackson Gallery, New York
1970 Martha Jackson Gallery, New York
1970 Gertrude Kasle Gallery, Detroit
1971 Martha Jackson Gallery, New York
1971 Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago
1971 Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (Retrospective)
1972 San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco (Retrospective)
1972 Gimpel Fils Gallery, London
1972 Abrams Original Editions, New York
1972 Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC
1973 Galerie Karl Flinker, Paris
1973 Art Gallery of the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame
1973 The Lindenwood College Art Gallery, St Charles, Missouri
1973 Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City
1973 Amarillo Art Center, Amarillo
1973 Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara
1973 Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis
1973 Martha Jackson Gallery, New York
1974 Musee des Beaux-Arts de Charleroi, Charleroi
1974 Baukunst, Cologne
1974 Gimpel & Weitzenhoffer Gallery, New York
1974 Gimpel Fils Gallery, London
1974 Witte Memorial Museum, San Antonio
1974 Fort Lauderdale Museum of the Arts, Fort Lauderdale
1975 Galerie Tanit, Munich
1975 Carone Gallery, Fort Lauderdale
1975 Lauren Rogers Library and Museum of Art, Laurel, Mississippi
1975 Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery
1975 Columbia Gallery of Fine Arts, Columbus
1976 Samuel Stein Gallery, Chicago
1976 Basel Art Fair, Basel
1976 Galerie Karl Flinker, Paris
1976 Gimpel & Weitzenhoffer Gallery, New York
1976 Jane Haslem Gallery, Washington DC
1977 Gimpel & Hanover Galerie, Zurich
1977 La Galerie Cours Saint-Pierre, Geneva
1977 Sears Bank & Trust Company, Chicago
1977 Contemporary Gallery, Dallas
1977 Philbrook Art Center, Toronto
1977 Diane Gilson Gallery, Seattle
1978 Gimpel & Weitzenhoffer Gallery, New York
1978 Samuel Stein Gallery, Chicago
1978 Elaine Horwitch Gallery, Santa Fe
1978 Balcon des Arts, Paris
1978 Diane Gilson Gallery, Seattle
1979 Gimpel & Weitzenhoffer Gallery, New York
1979 Baukunst, Cologne
1979 Galleria Bronda, Helsinki
1979 Elaine Horwitch Gallery, Scottsdale
1980 Elaine Horwitch Gallery, Scottsdale
1980 Gimpel Fils, London
1980 Contemporary Gallery, Dallas
1980 Albert White Gallery, Toronto
1980 Galerie Karl Flinker, Paris
1981 Palm Springs Desert Museum (retrospective), Palm Springs
1981 I Irving Feldman Galleries, Sarasota
1981 Belk Art Gallery, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee
1981 Carone Gallery, Fort Lauderdale
1981 Samuel Stein Gallery, Chicago
1981 French Cultural Services (Homage to Jean-Louis Barrault), New York (collages)
1981 Maison Internationale du Theatre, Theatre du Rond-Point, Paris
1981 Gimpel & Weitzenhoffer Gallery, New York
1982 Nicoline Pon Gallery, Zurich
1982 Gimpel Fils, London
1982 I Irving Feldman Galleries, Detroit
1982 Galerie Georges Fall, Paris
1982 Contemporary Gallery, Dallas
1983 Mead Art Museum, Amherst
1983 Gimpel & Weitzenhoffer Gallery, New York
1983 Galerie Georges Fall, Paris
1983 Alex Rosenberg Gallery, New York (collages)
1983 Contemporary Gallery, Dallas
1984 Carone Gallery, Fort Lauderdale
1984 Musee d'Art Contemporain, Dunkirk (retrospective)
1985 Galerie Sapone, Nice
1985 Gimpel & Weitzenhoffer Gallery, New York
1985 Gallery Moos, Toronto
1985 Galerie Georges Fall, Paris
1985 Gallery Art Atrium, Stockholm
1985 FIAC, Gimpel & Weitzenhoffer Gallery, Paris
1986 Gimpel Fils, London
1986 MR Galleria d'Arte Contemporaneo, Rome
1986 Galerie Michel Delorme, Paris
1986 Roswitha Haftmann, Zurich
1986 Gallery Art Point, Tokyo
1986 Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown (collages)
1986 Focus Gallery, Lausanne
1986 Elaine Horwitch Gallery, Santa Fe and Scottsdale
1986 Gimpel & Weitzenhoffer Gallery, New York
1987 Galerie 63, Klosters
1987 Samuel Stein Gallery, Chicago
1987 Musee Picasso, Antibes (retrospective)
1987 Galerie Regis Dorval, Lille
1987 Galleri Atrium, Stockholm
1988 Samuel Stein Gallery, Chicago
1988 Galerie Patrice Trigano, Paris
1988 Gimpel & Weitzenhoffer Gallery, New York (collages)
1988 Galerie Regis Dorval, Le Touquet
1988 Gana Gallery, Seoul
1988 Galleria La Loggia, Bologna
1989 Musees de Nice, Galerie des Ponchettes et Galerie d'Art Contemporain, Nice
1990 Galerie Patrice Trigano, Paris
1990 Castello Doria, Portovenere
1990 Gallery Art Point, Tokyo
1991 Gimpel & Weitzenhoffer Gallery, New York (polyptychs)
1991 Gimpel Fils Gallery, London (polyptychs)
1992 Roswitha Haftmann Gallery, Zurich
1992 Atelier Franck Bordas, Basel Art Fair
1992 Guy Pieters Gallery, Knokke-le-Zoute
1992 Jacques Matarasso, Nice
1992 Atelier Franck Bordas, Paris
1992 Associated American Artists, New York
1992 Galerie Iris Wazzau, Davos
1993 Smith Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto
1993 Yoshii Gallery, Paris (collages)
1993 Associated American Artists, New York (collages)
1994 Pasquale Iannetti Gallery, San Francisco (watercolours, lithographs and monotypes)
1994 Gallery Art Point, Tokyo (watercolours)
1994 'L'eau et la Couleur", travelling watercolour exhibition in France
1994 La Maison Francaise, New York University (collages: Homage a Jean-Louis Barrault
1995 De la Couleur a la Pierre, de la Pierre a la Couleur, ArtCurial, Paris (prints)
1995 L'Eau et la Couleur, Bouvet Ladubay, Saumur
1995 Galerie Proarta, Zurich
1995 Chateau-Musee, Cagnes sur mer
1995 Sept Aspects d'Amadeus et les Autres, Artotheque de Nice (lithographs)
1995 Associated American Artists, New York
1996 Lorenzelli Arte, Milan
1997 The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown
1997 Galerie Georges Fall, Paris
1997 Galerie Proarta, Zurich
1998 Joseph Rickards Gallery, New York
1999 Galerie Wild, Frankfurt
1999 Galerie Patrice Trigano, Paris
1999 Hofstra Museum, Hempstead
1999 Joseph Rickards Gallery, New York
2000 The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown
2000 Basilica Palladiana, Vicenza
2000 Joseph Rickards Gallery, New York
2000 Center for the Arts, Vero Beach, Florida
2001 Galerie Proarta, Zurich
2001 Centre d'Art Contemporain, Bouvet Ladubay, Saumur
2002 Chateau Haut-Gelon, Les Corbieres
2003 Harmon-Meek Gallery, Naples, Florida
2003 Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte
2003 Redfern Gallery, London
2004 Museo Civico, Assessorato alla Cultura Di Pizzighettone
2005 Galleria Open Art, Prato
2005 Redfern Gallery, London
2005 Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille
2005 Abbaye de Silvacane, La Roque d'Anthéron
2005 Robert Green Gallery, Mill Valley, California
2005 Gallerie Proarta, Zurich
2006 Robert Green Gallery, Mill Valley, California
2006 Maison de Pérouges
2006 Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock
2007 Redfern Gallery, London
2007 D. Wigmore Fine Art, New York
2011 Retrospective, The Redfern Gallery, London

Publications
1956 Observations of Michel Tapié
1961 The Paintings of Paul Jenkins
1963 Jenkins
1966 Strike The Puma
1971 Paul Jenkins
1973 Paul Jenkins
No date Paul Jenkins, text by Alain Bosquet
1983 Anatomy of a Cloud
1985 Anatomie D'un Nuage
1987 Paul Jenkins: Broken Prisms Shaman to the Prism Seen, Paul Jenkins: Prismes Brisés Le Prisme Du Chaman
1988 Euphories De La Couleur
1992 Seven Aspects of Amadeus and the Others Sept Aspects D'Amadeus et Les Autres
1994 L'Eau et La Couleur | Water and Color
1991 Conjunctions and Annexes
2000 Viaggio in Italia
2005 Œuvers Majeures
2005 Paintings 1954-1960
2006 Cosmogonie Interiori
2007 Paul Jenkins in the Fifties: Space, Color and Light
2007 Paul Jenkins: Recent Paintings
2009 Paul Jenkins in the 1960s and 1970s: Space, Colour and Light
2009 "Under Each Other's Spell": Gutai and New York
2010 Paul Jenkins: On the Rim of Time La Coscienza Del Tempo
2011 Paul Jenkins: Paintings from the 1960s and 1970s


Collections

Australia
Australian National Gallery, Canberra

Austria
The Albertina Museum, Vienna

Canada
The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto

France
Musee Picasso, Antibes
Musee d'Art Contemporain, Dunkirk
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
Musee National d'Art Moderne, Paris
Fonds National de l'Art Contemporain du Ministere de la Culture et de la Communication, Paris
Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul-de-Vence

Germany
Kolnischer Kunstverein, Cologne
Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne
Bayerische Staatsgemaldesammlungen, Neue Pinakothek, Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart

Great Britain
Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
Tate Gallery, London
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Israel
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem

Japan
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima
The National Museum of Art, Osaka
National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo
The Seibu Museum, Tokyo
The Museum of Modern Art, Toyama

Netherlands
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam

USA
Albany Institute of History and Art, Albany
Mead Art Museum, Amherst
The University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor
University of Texas Art Museum, Huntingdon Art Gallery, Austin
Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore
University Art Museum, Berkeley
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo
Albert and Vera List Visual Arts Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
Krannert Art Museum, Champaign
Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus
Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi
Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines
The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit
The Duke University Museum of Art, Durham
Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale
Grand Rapids Art Museum, Grand Rapids
Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City
Greater Lafayette Museum of Art, Lafayette
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles
The J B Speed Art Museum, Louisville
Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans
The Brooklyn Museum, New York
The Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, New York
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
New York University Art Collection, New York
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk
The University of Oklahoma Museum of Art, Norman
Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City
Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia
Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix
The Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh
The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield
San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego
San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara
Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle
Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, South Hadley
Springfield Museum of Art, Springfield, Missouri
Stanford University Museum, Stanford
The Sheldon Swope Art Gallery, Terre Haute
University of Arizona Museum of Fine Arts, Tucson
The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC
National Museum of American Art, Washington DC
National Gallery, Washington DC
Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown
Worcester Art Museum, Worcester
The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown