Tony King

Biography

Born in Massachusetts in 1944, and educated at Stanford University (BS ’67) and the New York Studio School (1964–65), Tony King moved to New York City in the late 1960s. He began his career as an abstract painter, employing a reductionist approach and using geometric forms incorporating illusionistic space and complex color arrangements. While showing this work in Soho through the 1970s and 80s, he pursued many other projects and ideas: conceptual pieces, “combine” paintings of abstract forms with photo emulsion images, and a series of large scale paintings of color replications of US currency.

In the mid 1980s King's interests shifted to landscape painting. At first he conceptualized the landscape as an image within an abstract field of either color or newsprint, but began to concentrate on plein aire painting when he relocated to Sonoma County. The landscapes edged toward a more traditional format, retaining a modernist awareness of the ever-changing relationship of man and the natural world. His series The Oldest Trees, portraits of Bristlecone Pines, was shown at OK Harris in New York in 2012, and at the Pepperwood Preserve later that year.

Recently, he has renewed his interest in geometric abstract work, as well as continued the Bristlecone series and painting local landscapes. Since his first show in 1965, he has exhibited nationally in museums and galleries.

Education

1962-67B.S., Stanford University, Stanford, CA
1964-65New York Studio School, New York, NY

Solo Exhibitions

201650 Years of Painting, Marin Community Foundation, Novato, CA
2012Bristlecones, Pepperwood Preserve, Sonoma County, CA
2012The Oldest Trees, O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY
2002Augen Gallery, Portland, OR
2001Coos Bay Art Museum, Coos Bay, OR
2001Down the Sacramento, Solomon Dubnik Gallery, Sacramento, CA
1999Solomon Dubnik Gallery, Sacramento, CA
1997The Central Valley, Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, CA
1996Bradford Gallery, San Anselmo, CA
1995Bradford Gallery, San Anselmo, CA
1994The Paint Store Gallery, Freestone, CA
1993Hurlbutt Gallery, Greenwich, CT
1988Mincher/Wilcox Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1982O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY
1981Dollar Bills, O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY
1979Aesop Paintings, O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY
1978Pool Installation, C.W. Post University, Greenvale, NY
1977O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY
1975O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY
1974O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY
1972De Cordova and Dana Museum, Lincoln, MA
1972O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2020Landscape: Awe to Activism, Sonoma County Museum, Santa Rosa, CA
2018Inside/Outside Explorations, Haldan Gallery, Lake Tahoe Community College, South Lake Tahoe, CA
2016New Paintings, OCA Gallery, Occidental, CA
2014Wild(er)ness, University Art Gallery, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA
2014Paintings, OCA Gallery, Occidental, CA
2012Under Water, University Art Gallery, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA
2010Celebrating 80 Years: Eight Artists, Flinn Gallery, Greenwich, CT
2010Fifth International Contemporary Art Exhibition, Istanbul Convention and Exhibition Center
2004See California Now, Gallery C, Hermosa Beach, CA
2004Botany 12, Sonoma County Museum, Santa Rosa, CA
2004Seeing is Believing, American Trompe l'Oeil, New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT
2002Sonoma County Museum of Contemporary Art, Santa Rosa, CA
2000The Golden Mean, Solomon Dubnik Gallery, Sacramento, CA
1999Fine Art Collection, Embassy of the United States, Ottawa, Canada
1999Art From the Open Space, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA
1998Small Paintings, Bradford Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1998Solomon Dubnik Gallery, Sacramento, CA
1997Offshore, Paintings of the Farallones, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA
1997In the Tradition of Printmaking, Bradford Gallery, San Anselmo, CA
1996Open Air Painting: King, Wheeler, Wolpert, Fairfield Art Center, Fairfield, CA
1996Open Air Painting, Mills Building, San Francisco, CA
1996George Krevsky Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
1995The Great American Pastime, George Krevsky Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA
1995Small Paintings, Bradford Gallery, San Anselmo, CA
1995Winter Solstice Show, The Paint Store Gallery, Bodega, CA
1995Long Horizons: A Bay Area Landscape, Falkirk Cultural Arts Center, San Rafael, CA
1995Abstract Painting, Louis Meisel Gallery, New York, NY
1993Cross Country, The Century Association, New York, NY
1992En Plein Air, King Morehouse, Stuppin, Wheeler, John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1992Old Masters and New, Patti Stewart Gallery, Napa, CA
1992Abstract Painting, Louis Meisel Gallery, New York, NY
1991First Annual International Miniprint Exhibition, Napa Art Center, Napa, CA
1991Artists Love New York, Cityarts Exhibition, New York, NY
1991Open Air Painting, Dominican College, San Rafael, CA
1991Sonoma Four, St. Francis Foundation Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1991Landscape Plus, Olga Dollar Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1991- 40 +, Haenah Kent Gallery, New York, NY
1991Open Air Paintings, J. Noblett Gallery, Boyes Hot Springs, CA
1991Collage: New Applications, Lehman College Art Gallery, Bronx, NY
1990First Fence Show, Coffee Grounds, Sebastopol, CA
1989American Icon, Phyllis Rothman Gallery, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Madison, NJ
1989Sonoma Landscapes, University Club, San Francisco, Ca
1988Landscape Anthology, Grace Borgenicht Gallery, New York, NY
1987Stanford Artists in New York, Charles Cowles Annex Gallery, New York, NY
1987The Grand Game of Baseball, Museum of the Borough of Brooklyn, Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY
1986The Golden Land, San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA
1986Line Drives, Gallery 53, Cooperstown, NY
1985Contemporary Prints, Fuji Art Salon, Tokyo, Japan
1985Big Screens, John Nichols Printmakers, New York, NY
1985Artists of O.K. Harris, Helender/Rubenstein Gallery, Palm Beach, FL
1984Breaking the Plane: Stuart M. Speiser Collection, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA (traveling exhibition)
1984A Unique Exhibition, Sneed Gallery, Rockford, IL
1983Tradition, Transition, New Vision, Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA
1982Counterparts, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
1982The Destroyed Print, Pratt Manhattan Center Galleries, New York, NY
1982Contemporary Paintings, O.K. Harris West, Scottsdale, AZ
1981Weather Maps, Installation, P.S. 1, Long Island, NY
1980Radical Realism, Center for the Arts, Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA
1980Sculpture and Works on Paper, Nicola Jacobs Gallery, London, England
1980Illusionism, O.K. Harris West, Scottsdale, AZ
1979Reality of Illusion, University Galleries, Denver, CO
1979Group Exhibition of O.K. Harris Artists, North Texas State University, Denton, TX
1979Abstract Illusionism, Rice University, Houston, TX
1979Fourteen Painters, Lehman College, Bronx, NY
1978University of Florida, Pensacola, FL
1977Galerie le Portail, Heidelburg, West Germany
1977The Butler Institute of American Art National Art Show, Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH
1976Abstract Illusionism, Paul Mellon Art Center, Choate School, CT
1976Three Contemporary American Painters, Flint Institute of the Arts, Flint, MI
1976Selections for New and Old Collections, Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, TX
1976Trompe l'Oeil in American Art, Taft Museum, Cincinnati, OH
1975Five from Soho, Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
1975Not Photography, Fine Arts Building, New York, NY
1975A Change of View, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT
1975Contemporary Painting from the Lewis Collection, Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE
1974Painting and Sculpture Today, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN
1972New American Abstract Painting, Vassar College Art Gallery, Poughkeepsie, NY
1971O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY
1970Esther Robles Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1965New York Studio School, New York, NY