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b. 1925 Chicago, IL
d. 2012 Los Angeles, CA
- Education
- 1943 Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
- 1949 BA, University of Redlands, Redlands, CA
- 1960 MA, Claremont Graduate School, Claremont, CA
- Awards
- 1983 Grant for Visual Arts, National Endowment for the Arts
- 1989 Grant for Visual Arts, National Endowment for the Arts
- Solo Exhibitions
- 2008 Karl Benjamin, Brian Gross Fine Art at One Post Street, San Francisco, CA
- 2007 Dance The Line—Paintings by Karl Benjamin, Louis Stern Fine Arts, West Hollywood, CA
- 2007 Karl Benjamin: A Conversation with Color: Karl Benjamin, Paintings 1953-1995, Claremont Museum of Art, Claremont, CA
- 2006 Karl Benjamin: India Ink Drawings from the 1950's, Lawrence Markey Gallery, San Antonio, TX
- 2005 Selected Paintings: 1953-1994, The Claremont Community Foundation, CA
- 2005 Drawings 1950-1965, Louis Stern Fine Arts, Los Angeles, CA
- 2004 Paintings from 1950-1965, Louis Stern Fine Arts, Los Angeles, CA
- 2004 Alphabet Series: 1964-1965, Brian Goss Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
- 2003 Stripe Paintings: 1979-1981, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
- 2001 (Mostly) Random Rectangles, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
- 1995 LA Artcore, Los Angeles, CA
- 1994 The Pomona Years, 1979-1994, A Retrospective, Montgomery Gallery, Pomona College, Pomona, CA
- 1992 Paintings 1955-1990, Snyder Fine Art, New York, NY
- 1991 Recent Paintings, Fong-Spratt Galleries, San Jose, CA
- 1990-8 Ruth Bachofner Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
- 1990 A Ten Year Survey, The Art Galleries of Claremont Graduate School, Claremont, CA
- 1989 A Retrospective, 1955-1987, Shasta College, University of the Pacific and California State College, Fullerton, CA
- 1986 Recent Paintings, Ruth Bachofner Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
- 1986 Eight Year Survey, Los Angeles Municipal Art Galleries, Barnsdall Park, Los Angeles, CA
- 1986 Hemmerdinger Gallery, Palm Springs, CA
- 1983 Chrysalis Gallery, Claremont, CA
- 1982 Stella Polaris Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- 1981 Abraxas Gallery, Newport Beach, CA
- 1981 Paintings of the 50s, Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA
- 1981 Francine Seders Gallery, Seattle, WA
- 1980 Survey 1970-1980, University of Redlands, Redlands, CA
- 1980 Cheney-Cowles Museum, Spokane, WA
- 1980 Sheehan Gallery, Whitman College, WA
- 1980 Tortue Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
- 1978-9 Francine Seders Gallery, Seattle, WA
- 1975-9 Tortue Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
- 1972 University of Redlands, Redlands, CA
- 1971 William Sawyer Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- 1968 Henri Gallery, Washington, D.C.
- 1968 Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
- 1964-6 Hollis Galleries, San Francisco, CA
- 1960-4 Esther-Robles Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- 1962 Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
- 1961 Bolles Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- 1961 La Jolla Museum of Art, La Jolla, CA
- 1959 Esther-Roble Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- 1958 Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA
- 1958 Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA
- 1955 Jack Carr Gallery, Pasadena, CA
- 1954 Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena, CA
- 1953 University of Redlands, Redlands, CA
- Group Exhibitions
- 2007 After Image: Op Art of the 1960's, Jacobson Howard Gallery, New York, New York.
- 2007 Birth of Cool: California Art, Design and Culture at Midcentury, Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA. Traveled to:Oakland Museum of Art, Oakland, CA, 2008.
- 2007 Optic Nerve—Perceptual Art of the 1960's, Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio
- 2007 Painting <=> Design, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA
- 2006 A Little SoCal Abstraction, Mandarin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- 2006 Driven to Abstraction: Southern California and the Non-Objective World, 1950-1980, Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, CA
- 2006 Peace Tower (recreation of 1966 original) in conjunction with the Whitney Biennial: Day for Night, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
- 2005 Human Presence: Works from the Museum's Collection (The Geometry of Color/The Singular Body), San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA
- 2005 The First 80 Years, Los Angeles Art Association, West Hollywood, CA
- 2005 Daimler Chrysler Collection: Minimalism and After III, Daimler Chrysler Contemporary, Potsdamer Platz, Berlin, Germany
- 2005 Conversations with the Collection: A Selection from the Permanent Collection, Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA
- 2005 The LA that Influenced My Eye, Sullivan Goss: An American Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
- 2005 Beyond Geometry: Experiments in Form 1940's-1970's, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
- 2005 Twenty Years and Counting: An Exhibition Celebrating the dA Center for the Arts, dA Center for the Arts, Pomona, CA
- 2005 Collection Histories/ Collective Memories: California Modern, Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA
- 2004 The Los Angeles School: Karl Benjamin, Lorser Feitelson, Frederick Hammersley, June Harwood, Helen Lundeberg and John McLaughlin, Ben Maltz Gallery, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA
- 2004 American Art: Selections from the Collection, San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA
- 2004 Selections from the Permanent Collection, Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA
- 2004 Beyond Geometry: Experiments in Form 1940s-70s, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
- 2001 Four Abstract Classicists: Karl Benjamin, Lorser Feitelson, Frederick Hammersley, and John McLaughlin, Gary Snyder Fine Art, New York, NY
- 2000 Vertical Chords, Harris Gallery, University of La Verne, La Verne, CA
- 1998 Elusive Paradise: Los Angeles Art from the Permanent Collection, Geffen Contemporary, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
- 1998 Convergence, The Art Galleries at Mt. San Antonio College, Walnut, CA
- 1997 Geometric Abstraction 1937-1997, Snyder Fine Art, New York, NY
- 1997 Eyedazzlers, University Art Museum, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
- 1996 California Artists: Genres of the 20th Century, Henley Gallery, Chapman University
- 1996 Some Grids: The Theme of the Grid in 20th Century Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
- 1996 On the Edge of America: California Modernist Art, Jack Rutberg Fine Arts Gallery, Los Angles, CA
- 1996 California Focus, Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA
- 1993 Four Abstract Classicists, West Coat Hard Edge, Modernism Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- 1993 Choice Encounters, Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA
- 1993 California: Art from the 1930s to the Present, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
- 1992 Selections from the Permanent Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
- 1992 Phinney Gallery, Palm Springs Museum, Palm Springs, CA
- 1991 Post War Geometric Concepts, Marilyn Pearl Gallery, New York, NY
- 1990 Survey of Geometric Abstraction, Marc Richards Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
- 1990 Turning the Tide: Early Los Angeles Modernists, 1920-1956, Oakland Art Museum, Oakland, CA; Laguna, CA; San Antonio, TX; Santa Barbara, CA; Palm Springs, CA
- 1989 Blueprints for Modern Living, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
- 1989 A Decade of Abstraction, Seattle Center, Seattle, WA
- 1988 The Linear Thread, Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine, CA
- 1987 California's Painting from the 60s, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
- 1987 Contemporary Prints by West Coast Artists, Francine Seders Gallery, Seattle, WA
- 1987 Pomona College Centennial Faculty Exhibition, Montgomery Gallery, Pomona College, Pomona, CA
- 1987 Insights, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna, CA
- 1986 R.C. Erpf Gallery, New York, NY
- 1985 Ten California Colorists, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA; Palm Springs, CA; Pomona, CA; Redding, CA
- 1985 Color Forms, Gallery at the Plaza, Security Pacific National Bank, Los Angeles, CA
- 1984 Color, Color, Color, Henry Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
- 1984 A Focus on California, Selections from the Permanent Collection, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
- 1984 The Twentieth Century: The SFMA, San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, CA
- 1982 Color in Contemporary Painting, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
- 1981 Pacific Coast Museum Selection, National Museum of American Art, Washington, D.C.
- 1980 West Coast: Art for the Vice-President's House, San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, CA; Washington, D.C.
- 1979 Art, Inc.: American Paintings from Corporate Collections, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Montgomery, AL; Indianapolis, IN; San Diego, CA
- 1979 Los Angeles Abstract Painting, University of California, Riverside, CA; Albuquerque, NM
- 1977 35th Biennial Exhibition of American Painting, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
- 1977 Los Angeles Hard Edge: The Fifties and Seventies, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
- 1977 4 From California, Dorothy Rosenthal Gallery, Chicago, IL
- 1976 Painting and Sculpture in California: the Modern Era, San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, CA; Washington, D.C.
- 1971 Pacific Cities Loan Exhibition, Auckland City Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
- 1969 Los Angeles Annual Art Exhibition, Municipal Art Galleries, Barnsdall Park, Los Angeles, CA
- 1967 30th Biennial Exhibition of American Painting, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
- 1967 The White House, Washington, D.C.
- 1966 85th Annual Exhibition of the San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, CA
- 1966 American Painting, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
- 1965 The Responsive Eye, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; St. Louis, MO; Seattle, WA; Pasadena, CA; Baltimore, MD
- 1966 Art Across America, Mead Corporation, M. Knoedler & Co., New York, NY; Toledo, OH; Cleveland, OH; Hartford, CT; Cincinnati, OH; New Orleans, LA; Philadelphia, PA
- 1966 The Colorists, 1950-1965, San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, CA
- 1966 California Artists, Witte Memorial Museum, San Antonio, TX
- 1966 Survey of Contemporary Art, Speed Museum of Art, Louisville, KY
- 1966 Denver Museum Annual, Denver Museum of Art
- 1964 New Accessions, USA, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, CO
- 1962 50 California Artists, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; Minneapolis, MN; Buffalo, NY; Des Moines, IA
- 1962 Geometric Abstraction in America, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; Boston, MA
- 1962 The Artist's Environment West Coast, Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth, TX; Los Angeles, CA; Oakland, CA
- 1961 Painting from the Pacific United States, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand
- 1960 West Coast Hard Edge, Institute of Contemporary Art, London and Queen College, Belfast, Ireland
- 1960 Purist Painting, American Federation of Arts, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; Ithaca, NY; Louisville, KY; Syracuse, NY; Raleigh, NC; Columbus, OH
- 1959 4 Abstract Classicists, Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, CA; San Francisco, CA
- 1959 New Talent, American Federation of Arts, Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, KS; New York, NY; Washington, D.C.
- 1957 California Drawings, Pomona College, Pomona, CA; Riverside, CA; Long Beach, CA
- 1956 Art in Architecture, Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- 1955 10th Annual Newport Harbor Exhibit, Newport Beach, CA
- 1954 Artists Should Know, Los Angeles Art Association, Los Angeles, CA
- 1953 Falk-Raboff Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Selected Collections
- Whitney Museum of American Art
- Los Angeles County Museum
- San Francisco Museum of Art
- Wadsworth Athenaeum
- Santa Barbara Museum of Art
- Pasadena Art Museum
- Utah Museum of Fine Arts
- Long Beach Museum of Art
- Fine Art Gallery of San Diego
- Berkeley Art Museum
- Seattle Museum of Modern Art
- Newport Harbor Art Museum
- Israel Museum of Modern Art
- University of Nebraska, Sheldon Memorial Gallery
- Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art
- Cheney Cowles State Museum
- University of Utah
- University of New Mexico
- University of Washington, Henry Gallery
- University of Redlands
- Pomona College
- Scripps College
- Pitzer College
- Claremont Graduate University
- Harvey Mudd College
- Mt. San Antonio College
- Oakland Art Museum
- Palm Springs Art Museum
- Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art
- Tacoma Art Museum
- Nevada Museum of Art
- Washington State University
- North Carolina Museum of Art
- Houston Museum of Fine Art
- Nora Eccles Harrison Museum
Bibliography
- Humblet, Claudine, La Nouvelle Abstraction Americaine 1950-1970, Volume I, Milan: Skira Editore, 2003.
- Schipper, Merle, "Karl Benjamin," California 5 Footnotes to Modern Art History, 1977.
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