William N. Copley

1919Born in New York / USA

1996
Died in Key West, Florida / USA

williamncopley.com

Solo exhibitions (Selection)

2017
William N. Copley: Women, Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York

2016
William N. Copley: The World According to CPLY, (traveling retrospective), The Menil Collection, Houston, Texas; Fondazione Prada, Milan, Italy
William N. Copley, Fondazione Prada, Milan, Italy

2015Drawings: 1962-1973, Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York
Galerie 1900 – 2000, Paris

2014William Copley: Paintings and Mirrors, Michael Fuchs Galerie, Berlin

2013Finally We Laugh, Linn Luhn, Düsseldorf
Confiserie CPLY, Paul Kasmin Gallery and Venus Over Manhattan, Basel

2012The Patriotism of CPLY and All That, Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York
William N. Copley: Works 1948 – 1983, Galerie Von Braunbehrens, Munich
Copley, (traveling retrospective), Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden; Max Ernst Museum Bruhl des LVR, Brühl; Stiftung Ahlers Pro Arte / Kestner Pro Arte, Hannover

2011X-Rated, Sadie Coles HQ, London

2010X-Rated, Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York

2009Galerie Klaus Gerrit Friese, Stuttgart
El Sourdog Hex, Berlin
Linn Lühn, Cologne

2007Linn Lühn, Cologne

2005Galerie Onrust, Amsterdam
Nolan / Eckman Gallery, New York

2004Galerie Daniel Blau, Munich

2003Nolan / Eckman Gallery, New York
Easy to Read Storybook, (retrospective exhibition), BAWAG Foundation, Vienna
Johann König, Berlin

2002Drawings 1954 – 1994, Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich

2001Nolan / Eckman Gallery, New York

2000Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York

1999Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich
L.A.C., Lieu D’Art Contemporain, Sigean
Galerie Daniel Blau, Munich
Herning Kunstmuseum, Herning
CPLY 1919-1996: The Art of William Copley, Forum of Contemporary Art, St. Louis

1998Galerie Lelong, Zurich
Tekeningen, Galerie Onrust, Amsterdam
Nolan / Eckman Gallery, New York

1997True Confessions, (retrospective exhibition), Ulmer Museum, Ulm
Galerie Kurt Schafer, Berlin

1996William N. Copley: New Paintings, Nolan / Eckman Gallery, New York
William N. Copley: Bilder Aquarelle Zeichnungen, Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich

1995William N. Copley: Heed Greed Trust Lust, (retrospective exhibition), Kestner-Gessellschaft, Hannover
Selected Paintings and Drawings, Galerie Lelong, Zurich
Galerie Kurt Schafer, Berlin
Galerie Zell Am See, Schloss Rosenberg
Galerie Michael, Heidelberg
Galerie Brigitte Ihsen, Cologne

1994William Copley: Recent Paintings & Drawings, Nolan / Eckman Gallery, New York
Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich
William Copley: Bilder und Zeichnungen 1964-1993, Galerie Heike Curtze, Vienna

1993Galleria Zell Am See, Schloss Rosenberg
Berliner Amerikaner, (with Dorothy Iannone & Emmett Williams), Haus Am Lutzowplatz, Berlin
Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich

1992Galleria Peccolo, Livorno
Galleria Milano, Milan
William Copley: Zeichnungen, Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich

1991David Nolan Gallery, New York
Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich
Trust Lust Heed Greed, Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York; Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago

1990Galerie Klewan, Munich

1989William Copley, Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago

1988Galerie 1900-2000, Paris

1987Galerie Kewenig, Frechen-Bachem
Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York

1986The Tomb of the Unknown Whore, The New Museum, New York

1985CPLY, Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York
The Quay Gallery, San Francisco
William N. Copley, Galerie Susanna Kulli, Zurich

1983Post-Raphaelite Paintings, Onnasch Galerie, Berlin
Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York

1982Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago

1981A Retrospecplytive, Brooks Jackson Gallery Iolas, New York
CPLY, Galerie Klewan, Munich
CPLY, Künstlerwerkstatt Lothringerstrasse, Munich
Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York

1980–1981William N. Copley, (traveling retrospective), Kunsthalle Bern, Bern; Musee National D’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven; Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe

1980Bill Copley, Galerie Maier-Hahn, Düsseldorf
Brooks-Jackson Gallery Iolas, New York

1979Variations on a Theme by Francis Picabia, Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York
CPLY: Reflection on a Past Life, (retrospective exhibition), Institute for the Arts, Rice University, Houston
X-Rated Paintings, Galerie Fassbender, Munich

1978Variations on a Theme by Francis Picabia, David Stuart Gallery, Los Angeles
Temptation of St. Anthony, Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York
Galerie Rudolf Zwirner, Cologne
Galerie Fassbender, Munich
Pictures and Drawings, Galerie Springer, Berlin

1977Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago

1976The Patriotism of CPLY: 1776 and All That, Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York
The Patriotism of CPLY, David Stuart Gallery, Los Angeles
Washington Art Association, Washington

1975Erik Nord Gallery, Nantucket

1974X-Rated: An Exhibition of New Paintings and Drawings, New York Cultural Center, New York
CPLY, Onnasch Gallery, New York; Moore College of Art, Philadelphia

1973Galleria Il Fauno, Turin

1972Mailorder, Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York
Gallery Suzanne Saxe, San Francisco
Galerie Iolas, Milan
Galerie Iolas, Paris
David Stuart Gallery, Los Angeles
Galerie Michael Werner, Cologne
Galerie Aspects, Brussels, Belgium
Galerie Du Dragon, Paris
William Copley, Galerie Springer, Berlin

1971Recent paintings: “Nouns”, Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York

1970Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York
Galerie Aspects, Brussels
William Copley, Galerie Neuendorf, Cologne
Galerie Springer, Berlin

1969Ballads, Galerie Iolas, Geneva
Galleria del Leone, Venice
Merida Gallery, Loisville

1967Homage to Robert W. Service, Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York
Ballads, Galerie Iolas, Paris
Bodley Gallery, New York

1966Projects for Monuments to the Unknown Whore, Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York; Galerie Iolas, Paris
Copley: Entertainment for Men, (retrospective exhibition), Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam

1965Allan Frumkin Gallery, Chicago
Southwestern College, Chula Vista
Louisiana Gallery, Houston

1964CPLY, David Stuart Gallery, Los Angeles

1963CPLY, Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York
Les Suffragettes Erotiques de Bill Copley, Galerie Iris Clert, Paris
W.N. Copley: Paintings, Hanover Gallery, London

1962The Flags (Les Etats-Unis du Monde), Galerie Iris Clert, Paris
Galleria Arturo Schwarz, Milan

1961William Copley—Paintings, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London

1960Galleria del Cavallino, Venice
Galleria d’Arte del Naviglio, Milan
Recent Paintings by CPLY, Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York

1959Galerie Furstenberg, Paris

1958Paintings by William Copley, Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York

1954Galleria Montenapoleone, Milan

1953Nina Dausset, Paris

1951
CPLY: Paintings by William N. Copley, Royer’s Book Shop, Los Angeles

Group exhibitions (Selection)

2016
William Copley, Elma Talbot, Ina van Zyl, Galerie Onrust, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Olympia, Karma at Galerie Patrick Seguin, Paris, France
William N. Copley and His Mentor, Magritte, VENUS at FIAC, Gran Palais, Paris, France
Impasse Ronsin, Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York

2015The Violent Crab, David Roberts Art Foundation, London
L’Impasse Ronsin, ADAA Art Fair, Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York
Viewer Discretion: Children of Bataille, Stux & Haller Gallery, New York
The Shadow is Taken, Algus Greenspon, New York

2014Pop Abstraction, Fredericks and Fraser Gallery and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York
Purple States, Andrew Edlin Gallery
Live and Let Die, Modern Art, London
Alexander the Great: The Iolas Gallery 1955 – 1987, Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York
Miami Art Basel, Sadie Coles HQ, Miami
The Surrealist Bungalow, Linn Lühn, Düsseldorf
What Nerve!: Alternative Figures in American Art, 1960 to the Present, RISD Museum, Providence

2013Re-View, Hauser and Wirth Gallery, London
Gang Bust: William N. Copley & Big Fat Black Cock. Inc, Venus Over Manhattan, New York
Masculine / Feminine, Michael Fuchs Galerie, Berlin
Building the Sukka, House of Gaga, Mexico City, Mexico

2012Interiors, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York

2011After Shelly Duval ’72 (Frogs on the High Line), Maccarone Gallery, New York
Andreas Slominski & William N. Copley – X-Rated, M.E. Collector’s Room, Berlin
ADAA Art Fair, Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York

2010Sixties – Seventies, Galerie 1900-2000, Paris
Intimacy!: Bathing in Art, Kunstmuseum Ahlen, Ahlen
Permanent Trouble: Sammlung Kopp, Kunstforum Ostdeutsche Galerie Regensburg, Regensburg

2009And Other Essays, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York
Exile On Main St., Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht
Jr. and Son’s, Zach Feuer Gallery, New York
The Long Arm of Coincidence: Selections from the Rosalind and Melvin Jacobs Collection, Pace MacGill Gallery, New York

2008Diana und Aktaion: Der Verbotene Blick auf die Nacktheit, Museum Kunst Palest, Düsseldorf
Karl Bohrmann – William N. Copley, Galerie Klauss Gerrit Friese, Stuttgart
Carte Blanche III – Gedichte der Fakten,Galerie Fur Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig
Liebe, Love, Paare, Gustäve-Lübcke-Museum, Hamm
Museum Im Kulturspeicher, Würzburg
Ulm Museum, Ulm
Mirror, Mirror, Ed Thorp Gallery, New York

2007Rockers Island: Olbricht Collection, Museum Folkwang, Essen
Deutsche und Amerikanische Maleri, Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden
Sixties! Art, Fashion, Design Film and Photography, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague
Affinities, Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin

2006Die anderen Bilder, Museum Der Stadt, Ratingen
Ele-Mental, David Nolan Gallery, New York
Six Feed Under: Autopsie unseres Umgangs mit Toten, Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern
Models and Prototypes, Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, St. Louis
L’Amateur D’Estampes, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Tourcoing
Collage Effect, 1301PE, Los Angeles

2005International Zeichner, Galerie Biedermann, Munich
Bilderwechsel III: Amerikanische Maleri, Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden

2004Funny Cuts: Cartoons und Comics in der Zeitgenössische Kunst, Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart
Eröffnungsausstellung Sammlung Frieder Burda, Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Baden-Baden
Christmas Art Gifts, Artiscope, Brussels
Baume, Galerie Biedermann, Munich

2003Imagine: Selections from the Permanent Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, Miami

2001Kunst Sammeln I: Werke Zeitgenössischer Kunst aus den Sammlungen von Cramm, Faklckenburg, Kalkmann, Kunstverein Bad Salzdetfurth, Bodenburg
Museum Unserer Wunsche, Museum Ludwig, Cologne

2000Prints, Nolan / Eckman Gallery, New York
Im Gegenüber: Landschaften, Stilleben, Portraits, Galerie Von Braunbehrens, Munich
Sweet Dreams and Nightmares: Dada and Surrealism from the Rosalnd and Melvin Jacobs Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, Miami

1998Summer Group Show, Nolan / Eckman Gallery, New York
Imagined World, David Nolan Gallery, New York

1997Magie der Zahl in der Kunst des 20, Jahrhunderts, Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart

1996Hommage a Copley, Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich
Think, Galerie Brigitte Ihsen, Cologne
Disegni Americani degli anni ottanta: 15 artisti, Galleria Milano, Milan

1995Bunnies – A Group Show, Nolan / Eckman Gallery, New York
Drawing the Line: Reappraising Drawings Past and Present, Southhampton City Art Gallery, Southhampton; Manchester City Art Gallery, Manchester; Ferens Art Gallery, Hull; Whitechapel Art Gallery, London

1994Old Glory: The American Flag in Contemporary Art, Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art, Cleveland

1993Darkness and Light: Twentieth-Century Works from Texas Collections, Blaffer Gallery, The Art Museum of Houston, Houston

1992My Father’s House Has Many Mansions, Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York

1989Bilderstreit: Widerspruch, Einheit und Fragment in der Kunst seit 1960, Museum Ludwig in den Reihnhallen der Kölner Messe, Cologne

1988Gran Pavese, The Flag Project, Muhka Museum Voor Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerp, Antwerp
Roger Brown, William Copley, Duncan Hannah, Gloria Luria Gallery, Miami

1987The Amused Eye: A National Sampling of Humor in Art, The Evanston Art Center, Evanston, Illinois

1986Column, Galerie Jule Kewenig, Frechen-Bachem
Europa / Amerika: die Geschicte einer kunstlerischen Faszination seit 1940, Museum Ludwig
Line Drives, Gallery 53/Smithy Artworks, Cooperstown, New York

1985–1986Cinquante Ans de Dessins Americans: 1930-1980, Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts, Paris; Städtische Galerie im Städelschen Kunstinstitut; Frankfurt

1984Auto and Culture, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit
Paravents, Schloss Lorsfeld, Kerpen

1983Looking at Women, Artemisia Gallery, Chicago
Festival of the Arts, Muhlenberg College, Allentown
Contemporary Paintings from the Weatherspoon Art Gallery, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro
The Last Laugh, Southern Ohio Museum and Cultural Center, Portsmouth

1982Documenta 7, Kassel, Germany
The Erotic Impulse, Roger Litz Gallery, New York

1981Westkunst, Museen Der Stadt Köln, Cologne

1980American Painting of the Sixties and Seventies: The Real, The Ideal, and the Fantastic, Whitney Museum of Art, New York; Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery; Joslyn Art Museum; Omaha; Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida; Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio; Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs; The Sierra Nevada Museum of Art, Reno
The Figurative Tradition and the Whitney Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of Art, New York

1978“Bad” Painting, The New Museum, New York
American Nude, Harold Reed Gallery, New York
Box Museum, Cooper Hewitt Museum, New York

1977Artist’s Renderings of Paintings, Pinoetca di Brera, Milan, Italy; Musée du Louvre, Paris
The Dada / Surrealist Heritage, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts

1976The William Seitz Memorial Exhibition, Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton

1975Three Generations of the American Nude, New York Cultural Center, New York
University of Houston/Fine Art Center, Houston

1974Seventy-First American Exhibition, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago

1973Erotic Art, The Art Center of the New School for Social Research, New York

1972Documenta 5, Kassel

1970Recent Acquisitions of Painting and Sculpture, Museum of Modern Art, New York
Copley, Brauner and Magritte, Louisianna Gallery, Houston
Box Top Art, Illinois State University, Bloomington

1969Blocked Metaphors, Cordier & Ekstrom Gallery, New York

1968The Obsessive Image, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, England
Dada, Surrealism, and Their Heritage, Museum of Modern Art, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago

1967Around the Automobile, Museum of Modern Art, New York; Arlington State College, Arlington; Cedar Rapids Art Center, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire; B. Caroll Reece Memorial Museum, Johnson City, Tennessee; Bates College, Lewiston, Maine; Davison Art Center at Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut; Brooks Memorial Art Gallery, Memphis, Tennessee; The Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Mixed Masters, University of St. Thomas, Houston
Angry Arts: Artists and Writers Protest Against the War in Vietnam, Associated American Artists, New York
Fifty American Artists of the Twentieth Century, North Shore Community Arts Center, Great Neck, New York
27th Annual Exhibition by the Society for Contemporary American Art, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago

1966Hommage á Caissa: Exhibition for the Chess Foundation of the Duchamp Fund, Cordier & Ekstrom Gallery, New York
Dada Lever, Moderna Museet, Stockholm
Surrealist Exhibition, University of California, Santa Barbara
Portraits: Peinture, Galerie Claude Bernard, Paris
25 Years of Art in San Diego, La Jolla Museum of Art, La Jolla
Birthday Party for George Washington, Henri Gallery, Alexandria
26th Annual Exhibition by the Society for Contemporary American Art, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
Limited Works by Important Artists, The Egg and The Eye, Los Angeles

1965The Maremont Collection, Washington Gallery of Modern Art, Washington, D.C.
Pop Art, Nouveau Réalisme, Etc., Palais Des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium
Surrealist Exhibition, Byron Gallery, New York
Visiting Artists at the Tamarind Lithography Workshop, Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles
Arena of Love, Dwan Gallery, Los Angeles
Whence Pop, Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, New York
The Box Show, Byron Gallery, New York
Drawings, Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York
Recent Acquisitions of Painting and Sculpture, Museum of Modern Art, New York

1964Selections from the L.M. Asher Collection, University Art Gallery, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
New Directions in American Painting, Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham
Nieuwe Realisten, Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague
Le Surrealisme: Sources, Histoire, Affinities, Galerie Charpentier, Paris
Around Travel, P.V.I. Gallery, New York
May Twelfth Twelve Artists, Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York
100 American Drawings, Byron Gallery, New York

1963Pop Art USA, Oakland Museum of Art, Oakland
XIX Salon de Mai, Musée D’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris
18 Salon de Réalitiés Nouvelles, Musée Municipal D’Art Moderne, Paris
Paris Lettriste, Galerie Schmidt, Paris
Aspetti dell’Arte Contemporanea, L’Aquila Castello Cinquecentesco, L’Aquila

1962Collage out of California, Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena
Antagonismes 2: L’Objet, Musée D’Art Decoratifs, Palais du Louvre – Pavillon de Marsan, Pavillon de Marsan, Paris
Surrealismus: Phantastiche Maleri der Gegenwart, Künstlerhaus, Vienna
XVIII Salon de Mai, Musée D’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris
Esther-Robles Gallery, Los Angeles
Picture Fair, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
Piccola Biennale, Palazzo Papadopoli, Venice

1961XVII Salon de Mai, Musée D’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris
Bewogen Bewgin (Moving Movement), Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam Holland; Rörelse I Konsten, Object in Motion) Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden; Bevagelse i kunsten (Movement in Art), Louisiana Museum, Humlbaek
Contemporary Modern Paintings Drawings Collages Objets-Peinture Sculpture Property of The American Chess Foundation, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York
Sculpture and Picture Fair, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
Surréalisme Et Précurseurs, Palais Graneville, Besançon

1960International Surrealist Exhibition, D’arcy Galleries, New York

1959XV Salon de Mai, Musée D’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris
Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme, Galerie Daniel Cordier, Paris
Arte Fantastica, Museo de Castillo di San Giusto, Trieste
The Maremont Collection at the Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology at Crown Hall, Chicago
Picture Fair, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London

1957Verzameling Urvater, (Urvater Collection), Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, Otterlo; The Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester; City of York Gallery, York; The Tate Gallery, London
Picture Fair, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London

1956XII Salon de Mai, Musee D’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris
Exposition Internationale de l’Art Actuel, Nagaoka Museum, Nagoaka

1953Americans in Paris, Galerie Arthur Craven, Paris