Born
1943 Denville, NJ
1950 Moved to Los Angeles, CA
1961-63 Los Angeles City College, Los Angeles, CA
1963-67 Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, CA, B.F.A., M.F.A,.
Lives and works in New York State
Awards and Grants
2010 American Academy of Arts and Letters, Hassam, Speicher, Betts and Symonds Art Purchase Award
2005 Francis J. Greenburger Award
1993 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Grant
1989 National Endowments for the Arts Fellowship Grant
Solo Exhibitions
2011 John Lees, Betty Cuningham Gallery, New York, NY
2009 John Lees: Works on Paper, with Gordon Moore, Betty Cuningham Gallery, New York, NY
2008 John Lees, Betty Cuningham Gallery, New York, NY
2007 John Lees, Selected Drawings 1992 – 2006, Nicole Fiacco Gallery, Hudson, NY
2005 Johann’s Castle, Nielsen Gallery, Boston, MA
2003 Wisps, Nielsen Gallery, Boston, MA
2000 Galleria I.S.A., Montecastello di Vibio, Italy
1999 Revolution, Ferndale, MI
1999 Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York, NY
1998 Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York, NY
1997 Galleria I.S.A., Montecastello di Vibio, Italy
1997 Nielsen Gallery, Boston, MA
1996 Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York, NY
1993 Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York, NY
1992 Genovese Gallery, Boston, MA
1990 Compass Rose Gallery, Chicago, IL
1989 Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York, NY
1989 The Mayor Gallery, London, United Kingdom
1986 Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York, NY
1983 Edward Thorp Gallery, New York, NY
1982 Feigenson Gallery, Detroit, MI
1981 Ruth Braunstein Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1980 Edward Thorp Gallery, New York, NY
1979 Feigenson-Rosenstein Gallery, Detroit, MI
1977 Edward Thorp Gallery, New York, NY
1976 Ellie Blankfort Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1975 Edward Thorp Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
1971 Unitarian Center, First Unitarian Church, San Francisco, CA
1969 San Bernardino Valley College, San Bernardino, CA
Group Exhibitions
2010 Myths of the Near Future, Nicole Fiacco Gallery, Hudson, NY
2010 The Invitational Exhibition of Visual Arts, American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, NY
2009 Core: Berthot, Forrest Bess, Alfonso Fratteggiani Bianchi, Suzan Frecon, John Lees, Robert Therrien, Alison Wilding, Christopher Wilmarth, Betty Cuningham Gallery, New York, NY
2009 Works with Paper, Nicole Fiacco Gallery, Hudson, NY
2006 Against the Grain, Contemporary Art from the Edward R. Broida Collection, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
2005 Kleinert/James Art Center, Woodstock, NY
2005-03 Nielsen Gallery, Group Exhibitions, Boston, MA
2002 More Than Skin & Bones – Portraits Invitational, Nielsen Gallery, Boston, MA
2002 In the Spirit of Landscape VII, Nielsen Gallery, Boston, MA
2002 John Lees and Ruth Leonard, Catskill Mountain Foundation, Hunter, NY
2001 Nielsen Gallery, Boston, MA
2001 Silver, Albany Center Galleries, Albany, NY
2000 Greene County Council on the Arts, Catskill, NY
1999 Peripheral Vision, The Painting Center, New York, NY
1998 Portraits, Nielsen Gallery, Boston, MA
1998 The Edward R. Broida Collection, Selection of Works, Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, FL
1998 The Tsagaris / Hilberry Collection, A Sustaining Passion, ‘I’he Cedar Rapids Museum of Art,- Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Dubuque Museum of Art, Dubuque, IA
1997 In the Spirit of Landscape, Nielsen Gallery, Boston, MA
1996 Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York, NY
1996 Still Life Still Alive, Nielsen Gallery, Boston, MA
1995 The Horse Show, Sylvia White, Contemporary Artists’ Services, Los Angeles, CA and New York, NY
1994 Artists’ Nature, Greene County Council on the Arts, Catskill, NY
1994 Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, KS
1994 School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
1993 Drawings III, Koplin Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1992 Art on Paper, Weatherspoon Art Gallery, Greensboro, NC
1991 Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, KS
1991 The Painted Landscape: Seen, Translated, Apprehended and Eulogized, Genovese Gallery, Boston, MA
1989 Belief in Paint: Eleven Contemporary Artists, Usdan Gallery, Bennington College, Bennington, VT
1989 Rugged Terrain: Toby Kahn, John Lees, David Lowe and Yishai Jusidman, Shea & Beker Gallery, New York, NY
1989 Direct Response – American Landscape Tradition Today, Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
1989 New York Studio School, New York, NY
1987 Still Life Painting, University Gallery, Fine Arts Center, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Amherst, MA
1987 Contemporary View of Nature, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT
1986 Objects Observed, Summit Art Center, Summit, NJ
1986 Intuitive Line, Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, NY
1985 Minimal Representations, Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1985 Views: Interior and Exterior, Koplin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1985 American Still Lifes, Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, NY
1984 A Decade of New Art, Artist’s Space, New York, NY
1984 Oscarsson-Hood Gallery, New York, NY
1984 Selections from the Merry and Bill Norris Collection, University of California, Irvine, CA
1984-83 American Still Life, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX; Albright Knox Gallery, Buffalo, NY; Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH, Newberger Museum, Purchase, NY; Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR; Edward Thorp Gallery, New York, NY
1982-83 Shift: LA/NY, Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, CA
1982-83 Edward Thorp Gallery, New York, NY
1981 University Art Gallery, California State University, Dominguez Hills, CA
1981 Five Figurative Painters, Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville, AL
1981 California: A Sense of Individualism, L.A. Louver Gallery, Venice, CA
1981 Painters’ Painters, Siegel Contemporary Art, Inc., New York, NY
1981 Edward Thorp Gallery, New York, NY
1980 Edward Thorp Gallery, New York, NY
1979 American Portraits of the Sixties and Seventies, The Aspen Center for Visual Arts, Aspen, CO
1979 Faculty Exhibition, Mount San Antonio College, Walnut, CA
1979 Edward Thorp Gallery, New York, NY
1978 Traditions/Five Painters, Artists Space, New York, NY
1978 Edward Thorp Gallery, New York, NY
1977 Edward Thorp Gallery, New York, NY
1976 Edward Thorp Gallery, New York, NY
1976 Faculty Exhibition, Mount San Antonio College, Walnut, CA
1975 24 from L.A., Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery at Barnsdale Park, Los Angeles, CA
1975 Ellie Blankfort Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1975 Janus Gallary, Los Angeles, CA
1975 Stretching lt, Pasadena Artists Concern Gallery, Walnut, CA
1974 Edward Thorp Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
1974 Word Works, Mount San Antonio College, Walnut, CA
1973 Ellie Blankfort Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1973 Faculty Exhibition, Mount San Antonio College, Walnut, CA
1971 American Portraits Old and New, Long Beach Museum of Art, California Faculty Exhibition, Mount San Antonio College, Walnut, CA
1970 Temple Street Artists, Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA
1970 Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Rental Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1969 Microcosm ’69, Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA
1969 Jewish Community Center, San Diego, CA
1969 Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Rental Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1968 Artists Who Make Boxes, Palos Verdes Art Association, Palos Verdes, CA
1968 Lytton Center of the Visual Arts, Los Angeles, CA
1968 Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Rental Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1967 Horizon Gallery, Venice, CA
1963 Los Angeles Art Association, Los Angeles, CA
1962 The Blue Couch, Los Angeles, CA
1960-61 Venice West Cafe, Venice, CA
1960 The Gashouse, Venice, CA
Collections
Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AK
Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI
Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, MA
The Kemper Collection, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
The New Museum, New York, NY
Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA
International School of Art in Umbria, Italy
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
Teaching and Visiting Artist Positions
1988-present New York Studio School of Painting, Drawing, and Sculpture, New York, NY
1987-2005 School of Visual Art, MFA Fine Arts Department, New York, NY
2000-03 Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY
1989, 2000-02 Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT (visiting critic)
1997, 2000 International School of Art in Umbria, Montecastello de Vibio, Italy (visiting artist)
1996-2000 State University at New Paltz, NY
1995 School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
1978 Wayne State University, Detroit, MI (visiting artist)
1971-81 Mt. San Antonio College, Walnut, C
Bibliography
2009 Goodman, Jonathan. “John Lees” Art in America, February, pp. 132, 133
2008 Cohen, David. “Deliciously Distressed” The New York Sun, March 13, pp. 15, 20
2008 Corbett, William. “John Lees: Ol’Brown Eyes is Back” (exhibition catalogue) Betty Cuningham Gallery, New York, March
2007 Genocchio, Benjamin. “Obsessive Compulsions: Intense Mark-Making and a Recurring Theme Characterize John Lees’s Art”, The New York Times, May 13
2006 Elderfield, John, “Against the Grain, Contemporary Art from The Edward R. Broida Collection”, Museum of Modern Art, Catalogue Essay.
2005 Smart, Paul, “Scraping Down to the Core of a Memory”, Ulster Publishing’s Almanac, October 13
2005 Cuningham, Betty, “Holding Time Within the Frame”, Francis J. Greenburger Awards 2005, Catalogue.
2001 Barrett-Fender, Pam. Hudson Valley Daily Mail, January 6 2001 Corbett, William. “All Prose, Selected Essays and Reviews”, Zoland Books
1999 Klein, Michael. “John Lees at Hirschl & Adler Modern,” Art in America, January
1998 Corbett, William. “John Lees: Mountains and Stream,” artsMedia, May
1998 “Edward R. Broida Collection/A Selection of Works”, Orlando Museum, Orlando, FL
1998 Shirey, David. “Masters of the Masters,” Butler Art Institute.
1998 “The TsagarisIHilberry Collection, A Sustaining Passion”, The Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Cedar Rapids, IA; Dubuque Museum of Art, Dubuque, IA
1997 Corbett, William. “John Lees,” artsMedia, June
1996 Frank, Elizabeth. “John Lees at Hirschl & Adler Modern,” Artnews, April
1996 Cotter, Holland. The New York Times, March 15
1994 Jaeger, William. “Artists’ Nature,” Albany Times Union, March 12
1990 Johnson, Ken. Art in America, May
1990 Kalina, Richard. “John Lees,” Arts Magazine, March
1990 Zinsser, John. ”John Lees.” New York: Hirschl & Adler Modern
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1989 Yau, John. “Radiant Silhouette”, Black Sparrow Press (Eskimo Villanelle)
1987 Yau, John. “A Contemporary View of Nature”. Ridgefield, CT: Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art
1986 Adams, Brooks. Art in America, October
1986 Larson, Kay. New York Magazine, April 7
1986 Yau, John. John Lees. New York: Hirschl & Adler Modern
1985 Knight, Christopher. Los Angeles Herald Examiner, 11 August
1985 Clothier, Peter. L.A. Weekly, 26 July – 1 August
1984 Colby, Joy Hakanson. The Detroit News, 24 January
1984 A Decade of New Art. New York: Artists Space
1984 Wortz, Melinda. Selections from the Merry and Bill Norris Collection. University of California, 1984 Fine Arts Gallery, Irvine, CA
1983 Storr, Robert. Art in America, May
1983 Westfall, Stephen. Arts, May
1983 Raynor, Vivian. New York Times, February 18, p. C24
1983 Wortz, Melinda. “The LA/NY Shift: For Some Artists, The Fast Lane Heads East,” Art News January, pp. 67-71
1983 Cathcart, Linda. American Still Life, 1945-83. Houston: Contemporary Art Museum
1982 Wilson, William. “Integrity Fails to Shift from LA to NY,” Los Angeles Times, October 17
1982 Miro, Marsha. “The Romantics Magical Touch,” Detroit Free Press, January 10
1982 Schimmel, Paul. “Shift: LA/NY”. Newport Beach, CA: Newport Harbor Museum.
1981 Danieli, Fidel. “Mainstream California Individualism,” Art Week, September 12
1981 Muchnic, Suzanne “A Louver Celebration of the Nonconformist,” Los Angeles Times, August 3
1981 Yourgrau, Barry. Arts May, p. 30
1980 Karmel, Pepe. Art in America , May, p. 155
1979 Neher, Ross. “Mentalism Versus Painting,” Artforum, February
1978 Cathcart, Linda. “TraditionsIFive Painters”. New York, Artists Space
1977 Lubell, Ellen. Arts, June
1976 Frank, Peter. Art News, December
1976 Muchnic, Suzanne. Art Week, December 11
1976 Ratcliff, Carter. “New York Letter,” Art International, Summer, pp. 28-29
1975 Wilson, Barbara. “John Lees: An Old Fashioned Painter,” Art Week, March 8, p. 3
1975 Santa Barbara News Press, March 1
1975 “24 From L.A”. Los Angeles: Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery at Barnsdall Park
1974 Ballatore, Sandy. “Ironic: L.A. Artist Course Wraps Up,” Art Week, December 21, pp. 13-14.)
1969 Secunda, Arthur. “Microcosm ’69”. Long Beach, CA: Long Beach Museum of Art, I