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
| 1962-67 | B.S., Stanford University, Stanford, CA |
| 1964-65 | New York Studio School, New York, NY |
Solo Exhibitions
| 2016 | 50 Years of Painting, Marin Community Foundation, Novato, CA |
| 2012 | Bristlecones, Pepperwood Preserve, Sonoma County, CA |
| 2012 | The Oldest Trees, O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY |
| 2002 | Augen Gallery, Portland, OR |
| 2001 | Coos Bay Art Museum, Coos Bay, OR |
| 2001 | Down the Sacramento, Solomon Dubnik Gallery, Sacramento, CA |
| 1999 | Solomon Dubnik Gallery, Sacramento, CA |
| 1997 | The Central Valley, Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, CA |
| 1996 | Bradford Gallery, San Anselmo, CA |
| 1995 | Bradford Gallery, San Anselmo, CA |
| 1994 | The Paint Store Gallery, Freestone, CA |
| 1993 | Hurlbutt Gallery, Greenwich, CT |
| 1988 | Mincher/Wilcox Gallery, San Francisco, CA |
| 1982 | O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY |
| 1981 | Dollar Bills, O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY |
| 1979 | Aesop Paintings, O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY |
| 1978 | Pool Installation, C.W. Post University, Greenvale, NY |
| 1977 | O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY |
| 1975 | O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY |
| 1974 | O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY |
| 1972 | De Cordova and Dana Museum, Lincoln, MA |
| 1972 | O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY |
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
| 2020 | Landscape: Awe to Activism, Sonoma County Museum, Santa Rosa, CA |
| 2018 | Inside/Outside Explorations, Haldan Gallery, Lake Tahoe Community College, South Lake Tahoe, CA |
| 2016 | New Paintings, OCA Gallery, Occidental, CA |
| 2014 | Wild(er)ness, University Art Gallery, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA |
| 2014 | Paintings, OCA Gallery, Occidental, CA |
| 2012 | Under Water, University Art Gallery, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA |
| 2010 | Celebrating 80 Years: Eight Artists, Flinn Gallery, Greenwich, CT |
| 2010 | Fifth International Contemporary Art Exhibition, Istanbul Convention and Exhibition Center |
| 2004 | See California Now, Gallery C, Hermosa Beach, CA |
| 2004 | Botany 12, Sonoma County Museum, Santa Rosa, CA |
| 2004 | Seeing is Believing, American Trompe l'Oeil, New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT |
| 2002 | Sonoma County Museum of Contemporary Art, Santa Rosa, CA |
| 2000 | The Golden Mean, Solomon Dubnik Gallery, Sacramento, CA |
| 1999 | Fine Art Collection, Embassy of the United States, Ottawa, Canada |
| 1999 | Art From the Open Space, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA |
| 1998 | Small Paintings, Bradford Gallery, San Francisco, CA |
| 1998 | Solomon Dubnik Gallery, Sacramento, CA |
| 1997 | Offshore, Paintings of the Farallones, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA |
| 1997 | In the Tradition of Printmaking, Bradford Gallery, San Anselmo, CA |
| 1996 | Open Air Painting: King, Wheeler, Wolpert, Fairfield Art Center, Fairfield, CA |
| 1996 | Open Air Painting, Mills Building, San Francisco, CA |
| 1996 | George Krevsky Fine Art, San Francisco, CA |
| 1995 | The Great American Pastime, George Krevsky Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA |
| 1995 | Small Paintings, Bradford Gallery, San Anselmo, CA |
| 1995 | Winter Solstice Show, The Paint Store Gallery, Bodega, CA |
| 1995 | Long Horizons: A Bay Area Landscape, Falkirk Cultural Arts Center, San Rafael, CA |
| 1995 | Abstract Painting, Louis Meisel Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1993 | Cross Country, The Century Association, New York, NY |
| 1992 | En Plein Air, King Morehouse, Stuppin, Wheeler, John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA |
| 1992 | Old Masters and New, Patti Stewart Gallery, Napa, CA |
| 1992 | Abstract Painting, Louis Meisel Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1991 | First Annual International Miniprint Exhibition, Napa Art Center, Napa, CA |
| 1991 | Artists Love New York, Cityarts Exhibition, New York, NY |
| 1991 | Open Air Painting, Dominican College, San Rafael, CA |
| 1991 | Sonoma Four, St. Francis Foundation Gallery, San Francisco, CA |
| 1991 | Landscape Plus, Olga Dollar Gallery, San Francisco, CA |
| 1991 | - 40 +, Haenah Kent Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1991 | Open Air Paintings, J. Noblett Gallery, Boyes Hot Springs, CA |
| 1991 | Collage: New Applications, Lehman College Art Gallery, Bronx, NY |
| 1990 | First Fence Show, Coffee Grounds, Sebastopol, CA |
| 1989 | American Icon, Phyllis Rothman Gallery, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Madison, NJ |
| 1989 | Sonoma Landscapes, University Club, San Francisco, Ca |
| 1988 | Landscape Anthology, Grace Borgenicht Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1987 | Stanford Artists in New York, Charles Cowles Annex Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1987 | The Grand Game of Baseball, Museum of the Borough of Brooklyn, Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY |
| 1986 | The Golden Land, San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA |
| 1986 | Line Drives, Gallery 53, Cooperstown, NY |
| 1985 | Contemporary Prints, Fuji Art Salon, Tokyo, Japan |
| 1985 | Big Screens, John Nichols Printmakers, New York, NY |
| 1985 | Artists of O.K. Harris, Helender/Rubenstein Gallery, Palm Beach, FL |
| 1984 | Breaking the Plane: Stuart M. Speiser Collection, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA (traveling exhibition) |
| 1984 | A Unique Exhibition, Sneed Gallery, Rockford, IL |
| 1983 | Tradition, Transition, New Vision, Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA |
| 1982 | Counterparts, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY |
| 1982 | The Destroyed Print, Pratt Manhattan Center Galleries, New York, NY |
| 1982 | Contemporary Paintings, O.K. Harris West, Scottsdale, AZ |
| 1981 | Weather Maps, Installation, P.S. 1, Long Island, NY |
| 1980 | Radical Realism, Center for the Arts, Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA |
| 1980 | Sculpture and Works on Paper, Nicola Jacobs Gallery, London, England |
| 1980 | Illusionism, O.K. Harris West, Scottsdale, AZ |
| 1979 | Reality of Illusion, University Galleries, Denver, CO |
| 1979 | Group Exhibition of O.K. Harris Artists, North Texas State University, Denton, TX |
| 1979 | Abstract Illusionism, Rice University, Houston, TX |
| 1979 | Fourteen Painters, Lehman College, Bronx, NY |
| 1978 | University of Florida, Pensacola, FL |
| 1977 | Galerie le Portail, Heidelburg, West Germany |
| 1977 | The Butler Institute of American Art National Art Show, Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH |
| 1976 | Abstract Illusionism, Paul Mellon Art Center, Choate School, CT |
| 1976 | Three Contemporary American Painters, Flint Institute of the Arts, Flint, MI |
| 1976 | Selections for New and Old Collections, Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, TX |
| 1976 | Trompe l'Oeil in American Art, Taft Museum, Cincinnati, OH |
| 1975 | Five from Soho, Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA |
| 1975 | Not Photography, Fine Arts Building, New York, NY |
| 1975 | A Change of View, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT |
| 1975 | Contemporary Painting from the Lewis Collection, Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE |
| 1974 | Painting and Sculpture Today, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN |
| 1972 | New American Abstract Painting, Vassar College Art Gallery, Poughkeepsie, NY |
| 1971 | O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY |
| 1970 | Esther Robles Gallery, Los Angeles, CA |
| 1965 | New York Studio School, New York, NY |