1923 Born in a lightning storm in Kansas City, Missouri

1937-42 Studied at the Kansas City Art Institute, where he makes drawings from a model and paints a series of watercolours he calls 'interior landscapes' related to caves he knew in the Ozarks, rivers, campfires and other forms of nature. Worked in ceramics with James Weldon where he poured clay slip into moulds, applied glazes and created a series of clay sculptures of heads and figures he then fired and glazed. The fire of the kiln reveals the transformation of colour: the cry opaque glazes prior to the firing which could 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 a vast Chinese fresco of a Buddha, the polychrome sculptures, notably the Bodhisattva, Kuan-Yin, from Shanxi, in Northern China, 1112th Century, Indian bronzes, especially Shiva, and statues of lohans in meditation.

1943-45 Serves as a medical corpsman in the US Naval Corps

1948-52 Studies with Yasuo Kuniyoshi 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 Museum to see Goya, Rembrandt's Self Portrait, Turner, Georges de la Tour, Vermeer, Bellini, Holbein. In New York, paints Sea Escape, 1951, an ink wash on paper with permeated colour. Meets Jackson Pollock and Barnett Newman in New York.

1953 Travels to Italy where he does a series of works on canvas in Sicily, and to Spain where he is deeply moved by the Prado. Settles in Paris where he meets Jean Dubuffet, Michel Tapie, as well as other American artists living there at the time. The ebauches of Gustave Moreau and the small oil paintings of Wols held another way of perceiving, a mystery that escaped Surrealism. He begins to pour paint on canvas and paper. Is greatly intrigued by the luminous density in the pastels of Odilon Redon, particularly in The Conch Shell. Discovers Psychology and Alchemy by Carl Gustave Jung and the I Ching: The Confucian Book of Changes.

1954 The flatness of the reflected lights at night on the Seine assume a compelling verticality which disrupts the introding horizon line and moves forward in a frontal configuration, evoking a sensation of nearness. First solo exhibition: Studio Paul Facchetti in Paris. Meets Martha Jackson, Mark Tobey, Zoe Dusanne, Kenneth Sawyer; Peter, Charles and Jean Gimpel. Works with Winsor Newton powdered pigments and chrysochrome, a viscous enamel paint. Group exhibition "Divergences" at the Galerie Arnaud in Paris.

1955 First solo exhibition in the United States at the Zoe Dusanne Gallery in Seattle. The Seattle Museum is the first museum ot buy one of his works. 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. Comes to know Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Ad Reinhardt, Phillip Guston and, with George Wittenborn, meets Robert Motherwell.

1956 First solo exhibition in New York takes place at the Martha Jackson Gallery. John I H Baur buys Divining Rod for the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Observation of Michel Tapie is published by George Wittenborn in New York. 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 Americains de Paris" at the Galerie Arnaud. Peter Cochrane invites him 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 with Alan Davie.

1957 Peggy Guggenheim buys Osage from his exhibition at the Galerie Stadler in Paris. Participates in group exhibitions at Arthur Tooth & Sons in London and at the Whitney Museum in New York. Exchanges studios with Joan Mitchell; he takes her St Mark's Place studio in New York and she takes his studio on the Rue Decres in Paris.

1958 Begins the series of paintings Eyes of the Dove in New York. Joseph Hirschhorn buys Dakota Ridge from his exhibition at the Martha Jackson Gallery in New York. Participates in exhibitions at Arthur Tooth & Sons, London, at the Carnegie Institute Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, and at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC.

1959-60 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. Begins to title his canvases Phenomena, followed by a key phrase or word. Travels to Spain, meets Juan-Eduardo Cirlot. Obtains a cold-water flat in New York on 12th Street between Avenues A and B. Begins 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 Paintings of Paul Jenkins is published by Editions Two Cities in Paris with texts by Kenneth B Sawyer, Pierre Restany and James Fitzsimmons.

1962 Meets Albert E Elsen in the Rodin Museum in Paris. Travels in Europe. Henri Michaux visits his Paris studio. Participates in group exhibitions at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Musee du Louvre and Musee d'Art Moderne in Paris and at the Whitney Museum in New York. Gradual encroachment of the granular veils in the paintings.

1963 Publication of Jenkins by Jean Cassou, Editions de la Galerie Karl Flinker, Paris. Group exhibitions at the Musee 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.

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. Travels to Japan where he is profoundly affected by Ise. Visits and works with the Gutai group in Osaka and exhibits at the Tokyo Gallery. Travels to India, visits Bombay, Agra, the Ajanta caves in Aurangabad. In New Delhi, is struck by the independence of the colour 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 Publication of Seeing Voice Welsh Heart by the Editions de la Galerie Karl Flinker in Paris; a series of original lithographs on stone created with 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 Editions Gonthier, Paris.

1967 Grays and granular whites predominate in a series of paintings. Awarded a medal in painting during the 30th Biennial of the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington DC. Strike the Puma is produced off-Broadway, directed by Vasek Simek.

1968 Makes a series of unique glass sculptures in Venice with Egidio Costantini, whom he met through Mark Tobey.

1971 Retrospective at the Houston Museum of Fine Arts and the San Francisco Museum of Art, organised by Gerald Nordland and Philippe de Montebello. Jean-Lous Barrault visits his studio in New York. Sculpts two-ton piece of French limestone at the Sculptors' Sympsium at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum in New York.

1972 "Paul Jenkins: Works on Paper", an exhibition of watercolours, is presented at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington DC, then travels for two years in the United States. After his exhibition in London with the Gimpel Fils Gallery, goes to Cornwall with Peter Gimpel to see the dolmens.

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. Horizon Findings, first autobiographical collage, emerges.

1974-76 Retrospective at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Charleroi. Casts Mandala Meditation Sundial in bronze and brass. On canvas and paper, continues to explore through veils of colour the Newtonian prism and to investigate translucent and opaque light, revealed in hidden forms. Finishes Boy Man Man Boy, pivotal collage for Anatomy of a Cloud. Attends series of lectures by Meyer Schapiro at Columbia University in New York.

1977 Begins St Croix series of watercolours and paintings is strongly influenced by the physicality of working outside and by Caribbean light and colour. 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.

1978 Exhibits Anatomy of a Cloud, a series of 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, evidence of impasto begins to appear in the paintings. Completes Phenomenon 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 Sante Fe, New Mexico. At Shidoni Foundry, near Santa Fe, begins construction of full-scale version of Mandala Meditation Sundial in steel.

1981 Retrospective at the Palm Springs Desert Museum. Creates a series of collages of Jean-Louis Barrault which are shown at the French Cultural Services of the French Embassy in New York. These collages inaugurate the Maison Internationale du Theatre of the Renaud-Barrault Company, at the Theatre du Rond-Point, in Paris, for which he also makes the insignia. Creates a series of original lithographs on stone in Canada at Sword Street Press.

1982 Publication of Paul Jenkins by Alain Bosquet, Editions Georges Fall, Paris, in conjunction with an exhibition which is visited by President Francois Mitterrand. The Fonds National d'Art Contemporain du Ministere de la Culture et de la Communication purchases Phenomena Saturn Observes. Participates in the colloquium in Paris organised by Jack Lang on creation and its development. 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 elemnts integrate themselves with the works on canvas.

1983 Named Commander of Arts and Letters by the Republic of France. Anatomy of a Cloud, an autobiographical book of word impressions and collages, is published by Harry N Abrams in New York and receives a medal from the Art Directors Club.

1984 The series of collages Homage to Jean-Louis Barrault and Tibetan Remnants are shown at the Musee d'Art Contemporain, 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 exhibitions at the Gimpel Weitzenhoffer Gallery at FIAC in Paris and at the Galerie Sapone in Nice.

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 coloured 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 stell of a portion of Mandala Meditation Sundial.

1987 Retrospective of his works on canvas at the Musee Picasso in Antibes. The Paris Opera presents 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 for the decors, together with costumes and silks, and creates a prism dais for Shaman. Music by Henri Dutilleux; directed by Simone Benmussa. Creates a series of 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 US 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, during "The Return of Marco Polo", organised 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 a series of 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 Andre Verdet. Printed in book form by Imago Terrae, and as a recording in which Andre Verde and Frederic Altmann recite a selection of the poems. Music by Gilbert Trem.

1989 The Musees de Nice presents the painted decors for Shaman to the Prism Seen, together with a series of watercolours and large-scale paintings from the last five years at the Galerie des Ponchettes and the Galerie d'Art Contemporain. Begins to paint in his new studio in St-Paul-de-Vence, and works on a series of canvases, "chemin du cercle". Euphories de la Couleur is shown at the Maison des Ecrivains in Paris, organized by Hughes de Kerret, and then at the Galerie Sapone in Nice. The 7eme Rencontre des Arts Contemporains in Cannes presents a homage to Paul Jenkins in the context of their summer exhibition.

1990 Exhibition of paintings at the Galerie Patrice Trigano in Paris. Exhibition of 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 with a text by Pascal Bonafoux.

Invited by Tadashi Suzuki to travel to Japan in August to attend the 10th Anniversary of his theatre festival in Toga. Begins to work on a series of 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 premiere of Ivanov, an adaptation by Tadashi Suzuki of the Chekhov play, where Suzuki uses the silks painted in China and in Paris as elements of the decors and for Anna's costume.

1992 Exhibition of watercolours at the Roswitha Haftmann Gallery in Zurich. Franck Bordas presents Seven Aspects of Amadeus and the Others at the Basel Art Fair. Writes a text he views as a one-act play in reference to the lithographs of the Amadeus series, published by Editions Galilee in Paris. Visits Florence and views again frescoes by Giotto and by Fra Angelico. Exhibition of works on canvas from 1984 to 1992 at the Guy Pieters Gallery in Knokke-le-Zoute. Exhibition of Amadeus series lithographs at Atelier Franck Bordas in Paris. Exhibition of recent watercolours and Amadeus lithographs at Associated American Artists Gallery in New York.

1993 Associated American Artists Gallery presents a selection of collages and watercolours at the Armory show in New York. Travels to Palo Alto, California where he completes a series of monotypes at Smith Andersen Editions. Exhibits in "Collection of the Maeght Foundation, 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.

1994 Writes Prism Moon to the Shaman, an allegorical tale about colour. Associated American Artists Gallery presents selected recent paintings at the Armory show in New York. Inauguration of Water and Color, a travelling exhibition in France of watercolours in conjunction with the Paris Opera performance of his dance-drama Shaman to the Prism Seen, together with recent watercolours, including 5 monumental scale works created in Paris in November of 1993. Catalogue text written by Frank Anderson Trapp. Travels to New Mexico where he teaches at the Santa Fe Institute of Fine Arts. Works on monotypes at Smith Andersen in Palo Alto. His sculpture, Meditation Mandala Sundial, is installed at Hofstra University.

1995 Exhibition of recent works on canvas at Association 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 watercolours at Galerie ProArta. Jacques Garelli, poet and phenomenologist, writes an extensive text concerning the paintings and watercolours, 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. Exhibition at Galerie ProArta in Zurich. Elected to the National Academy in New York. Competes Five Incantations, a series of 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 their 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, Paris. Elected honorary member of the Royal Cambrian Academy in Wales. Exhibition of works on canvas at the Joseph Rickards Gallery, New York. Participates in the group exhibition, Masters of Color and Light: Homer, Sargent and the American Watercolor Movement, the Brooklyn Musem 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 a nos jours, PACA, travelling exhibition beginning in Angers.

1999 Exhibition of recent works on canvas at the Galerie Patrice Trigano in Paris, with text by Jean-Louis Prat. In Paris, creates At Stroke of Twelve, an original stone lithograph for the Print Club in New York presented in October. The Butler Institute of American Art exhibits Water and Color, 50 works on paper. Hofstra University mounts an exhibition of the work from the years 1954-1960, and the Joseph Rickards Gallery in New York exhibits the transitional series of 1957-59 paintings, Eyes of the Dove. A paintings from Eyes of the Dove is shown in the travelling exhibition and catalogue, Les Annees de Combat, 1951-1962, organized by Presence d'Art Contemporain in Angers centering on the Paris art review Cimaise and the Galerie Arnaud. Vision Nouvelle d'une Collection at the Fondation Maeght, St-Paul.

2000 Travels to the Butler Institute of American Art in Ohio where his exhibition Water and Color is shown in celebration of their new Beecher Center for Art and Technology. Receives the Benjamin Clinedinst Medal from the Artists' Fellowship in New York. Travels to Vicenza for the exhibition Viaggio in Italia, then returns to New York to move his studio, acquired from Bill de Kooning in 1963, to another loft in the area. Meets the Rev. Seiyu Kiriyama Kancho at his fire ceremony in New York City in November.

2001 Invited by the Rev. Seiyu Kiriyama Kancho, travels in February to Kyoto, Japan, for the monumental outdoor Fire Ceremony near the main temple; visits stone gardens, temples and shrine and experiences the intensity of their stillness. Travels to Zurich for his exhibition at Galerie Proarta, then works in his studio in St-Paul.

2002 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. Travel to London to see the Barnett Newman exhibition at Tate Modern. Richard Gault of the Redfern Gallery visits St-Paul to select work for the forthcoming exhibition.