SELECTED WORKS
1973 acrylic on canvas diptych 89 x 85 inches (226 x 215.9 centimeters) One of four paintings for Chapel of Meditation
1964 acrylic on canvas 85 ½ x 117 inches (217.2 x 297.2 centimeters)
2002 acrylic on canvas 74 ¾ x 100 ¾ inches (190 x 256 centimeters)
1971 acrylic on canvas 108 ½ x 144 inches (275.6 x 365.8 centimeters) One of four paintings for Chapel of Meditation
BIOGRAPHY
During the 1950s, American artist Paul Jenkins entered into friendships with Jean Dubuffet, Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning et al, and his unorthodox application of paint brought him into association with Abstract Expressionism. His paintings are not representational, but rather express the essence of paint as a medium - Jenkins, in this sense, was very much of his time. However, his vigorous process differs from the action-oriented intentions of his New York contemporaries. He controlled the paint flow across the canvas with an ivory knife, producing diaphonous and intensely colored multi-layered works. While the initial glance may lead one to believe that he stained the canvases, he in fact primed them and poured veils of vivid, jewel-toned paint onto the surfaces. Equally important are the white spaces where the underlying primed canvas is revealed. The influence of China and Japan, including his study of Asian texts, left an indelible impression on his practice. Informed by Zen thought in particular, he integrated ideas from Eastern notions of negative space or “emptiness,” using white background to intensify the presence of the overlapping hues
Paul Jenkins attended the Kansas City Art Institute ca. 1936 to 1941. Using his GI Bill at New York’s Art Students League (1948-1952), he studied for four years with Yasuo Kuniyoshi. Throughout his career, he divided his time between New York and Paris. His works are represented in private and public collections internationally, including the Tate Gallery, London; the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.; National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Fogg Museum of Art at Harvard University, Cambridge; The Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; among many others.
2010 - present
2010 - present
SELECTED RECENT PUBLICATIONS
2014 Buscaroli, Beatrice. Paul Jenkins: The Spectrum of Light. Prato: Carlo Cambi Editore, illus.
Goodman, Jonathan. “Threshholds of Color.” Paul Jenkins (exhibition catalogue). New York: Robert
Miller Gallery.
Sandler, Irving and Jean-Louis Prat. Reminiscences; the Studio of Paul Jenkins (exhibition
catalogue). London: The Redfern Gallery.
2013 Okayama: Benesse Holdings, illus. [Eyes of the Dove—Blue & Red Familiar]. Ozawa, Yoshio. I Am
an American? Yasuo Kuniyoshi in New York 1916-1953.
2011 Fleming, Rhiannon. The Abstract Art of Paul Jenkins. Art of England, issue 83, July, illus.
Gutai: Painting with Time and Space. Dipingere con il Tempo e lo Spazio (exhibition catalogue).
Lugano: Museo Cantonale d'Arte.
Peppiatt, Michael. Paul Jenkins: The Alchemy of Art (exhibition catalogue). London: The Redfern
Gallery.
2010 Buscaroli, Beatrice. Paul Jenkins: La Coscienza del Tempo. On the Rim of Time (exhibition
catalogue). Prato: Galleria Open Art, illus.
Harrison, Helen, Ming Tiampo, Tetsuya Oshima, and David Kaplan. Under Each Other's Spell: Gutai
and New York (exhibition catalogue). East Hampton, NY: Pollock-Krasner House & Study Center,
illus. [Phenomena Nightwood].
Tommasi, Luca. Paul Jenkins Watercolors (exhibition catalogue). Seregno, Italy: Galleria Civica
Ezio Mariani di Seregno, illus.
2009 Ayers, Robert. “Paul Jenkins in the 1960s and 1970s: Space Color and Light.” ARTnews,
September, illus. [Phenomena Prevailing Wind].
Genocchio, Benjamin. "Painting with Hands and Feet." New York Times, August 23.
Olsen, Sandra H. “Two Decades.” Paul Jenkins in the 1960s and 1970s: Space Color and Light
(exhibition catalogue). New York: D. Wigmore Fine Art.
Smith, Roberta. “Paul Jenkins in the 1960s and 1970s: Space Color and Light.” New York Times,
July 9, illus. [Phenomena Matsumi Chant].
2008 Goldberg, Ira. “Live Dangerously, An Interview with Paul Jenkins.” Linea, Journal of the Art Students
League, New York, Spring, illus. [Phenomena Alchemist's Furnace, Phenomena Ritual Stance,
Phenomena Ever After Chartres, Hommage à Melville, Sea Escape, Lotus, Phenomena Fall From
Grace].
2007 Freedom to Experiment: American Abstraction 1945-1975 (exhibition catalogue). New York: D.
Wigmore Fine Art, illus. [Black Dahlia, Phenomena Where Swallows Live, Under Smoke].
Harrison, Helen. "Unveiling the Image." Paul Jenkins in the Fifties: Space Color and Light (exhibition
catalogue). New York: D. Wigmore Fine Art.
"Longevity, in the Abstract." The Palm Beach Post, January 14, illus. [Ether Spectrum, Broken
Majolica].
McCullough, Holly Koons. East End Artists, Past, and Present (exhibition catalogue). Savannah:
Telfair Museum of Art, illus [Phenomena Break of Dawn].
Paul Jenkins: Recent Paintings (exhibition catalogue), 2007. London: The Redfern Gallery, illus.
Schwabsky, Barry. Artforum, September, p. 480, illus. [Phenomena Phoenix Equinox].
Schwan, Gary. "Abstract Works from '50s and '60s Among Fair Offerings." The Palm Beach Post,
January 12, illus. [Ether Spectrum and Broken Majolica].
2006 A Century of American Art (exhibition catalogue). New York: D. Wigmore Fine Art, New York, illus.
[Albatross, UltraRed].
Frimbois, Jean-Pierre. "42121." Art Actuel, no. 42, January-February, illus. [Phenomena Cross Hatch
the Wind].
Geometric Abstraction: Two Generations (exhibition catalogue). New York: D. Wigmore Fine Art,
New York.
“La Fougue du Lyrisme.” L’Express, September 15-21.
Persin, Patrick-Gilles. L'Envolée Lyrique: Paris 1945-1956 (exhibition catalogue). Paris: Musée du
Luxembourg, illus. [Iguana].
Selz, Peter. Paul Jenkins: the 70s (exhibition catalogue). Mill Valley, CA: Robert Green Fine Arts.
2005 Bellet, Harry. "Paul Jenkins, Sorcier de la couleur, au Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille." Le Monde,
September 30, p. 26.
Berger, John. "The Colour Code." The Guardian, October 19, pp. 22-23, illus. [Phenomena Astral
Tundra].
Bouchet, Phillipe. “I’ve Moved This Here?” Œuvres Majeures (exhibition catalogue). Lille: Palais
des Beaux-Arts, (Excerpts published in Paul Jenkins: Recent Paintings (exhibition catalogue), 2007.
London: The Redfern Gallery, illus.
Corà, Bruno. Cosmogonie Interiori (exhibition catalogue). Prato: Galleria Open Art.
El Païs, October 23, illus. [Phenomena An Astral Place].
Frimbois, Jean-Pierre. "Jenkins Elevation." Art Actuel, no. 40, September-October, pp. 62-63.
Minturn, Kent. Paintings 1954-1960 (exhibition catalogue). London: The Redfern Gallery.
SELECTED RECENT EXHIBITIONS (solo exhibitions)
2016
2015
2014
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
University at Buffalo Anderson Gallery, New York
The Butler Institute of American Art
Robert Miller Gallery, New York
Museo di Pittura Murale, Prato
Redfern Gallery, London
Galleria Open Art, Prato
Robert Green Fine Arts, Mill Valley
Redfern Gallery, London
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento
Robert Green Fine Arts, Mill Valley
Palazzo Pacchiani, Prato / Galleria Open Art, Prato
UB Anderson Gallery, State University of New York at Buffalo
Galleria Civica Ezio Mariani di Seregno
Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens, Jacksonville
D. Wigmore Fine Art, New York
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, New York
Robert Greene Fine Arts, Mill Valley
Robert Greene Fine Arts, Mill Valley
Galleria Open Art, Cornice Art Fair, Venice
Redfern Gallery, London
D. Wigmore Fine Art, New York
Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock
Robert Green Fine Arts, Mill Valley
Maison des Princes de Pérouges
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille
Abbaye de Silvacane, Le Roque d'Anthéron
Redfern Gallery, London
Galleria Open Art, Prato
Robert Green Fine Arts, Mill Valley
Galerie Proarta, Zurich
Museo Civico, Assessorato alla Cultura di Pizzighettonem
Harmon-Meek Gallery, Naples
The Redfern Gallery, London
Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte
Château Haut-Gléon, Les Corbières
Galerie Proarta, Zurich
Centre d'Art Contemporain, Bouvet Ladubay
Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown
Basilica Palladiana, Vicenza
Joseph Rickards Gallery, New York
Vero Beach Museum of Art, Vero Beach
Galerie Wild, Frankfurt
Galerie Patrice Trigano, Paris
Hofstra Museum, Hempstead, New York
Joseph Rickards Gallery, New York
Joseph Rickards Gallery, New York
Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown
Galerie Georges Fall, Paris
Galerie Proarta, Zurich
Lorenzelli Arte, Milan
Artcurial, Paris
Centre d'art contemporain, Bouvet Ladubay
Galerie Proarta, Zurich
Château Musée Grimaldi, Cagnes sur mer
Associated American Artists, New York