BORN 1928
EDUCATION
1956 BFA, California School of Fine Arts
1958 MFA, San Francisco State College
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2012
"David Simpson: Paintings", Modernism Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2011
“Nonsense Poems,” Haines Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2010
“Interference Blues,” Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
2009
“David Simpson: Paintings & Works on Paper,” Modernism, San Francisco, CA
2008
“David Simpson”, Studio La Citta, Verona, Italy
2007
“David Simpson”, Studio La Citta, Verona, Italy
"Light Wells +," Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
“Light Wells,” Haines Gallery, San Francisco, CA
“Interference Paintings,” Gallery Sonja Roesch, Houston, TX
2006
“Extreme Interference,” Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
2005
“David Simpson: Iridescent Interference,” Gallery Sonja Roesch, Houston, TX
“David Simpson: Surrealist Landscapes and Other Departures,” Haines Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2004
“David Simpson: Metallics,” Haines Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2003
“David Simpson: Interference Paintings,” James Kelly Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
2002
Renate Schroder Gallerie, Cologne, Germany
artothek, Cologne, Germany
2001
“David Simpson,” Studio La Citta, Verona, Italy
“David Simpson; Neue Bilder,” Renate Schroder Galerie, Cologne, Germany
“David Simpson: Paintings of the ‘70s and 80s,” Modernism, San Francisco,CA
2000
"Painting," Haines Gallery, San Francisco, CA
“12 x 12”, Haines Gallery, San Francisco, California, Angles Gallery, Santa Monica, California
“Luminary,” Sonoma Museum of Visual Art, Santa Rosa, CA
Galerie Schroder, Koln
1998
Angles Gallery, Santa Monica, California
1997
"Paintings", Haines Gallery, San Francisco, California
Studio La Citta, Verona, Italy
1995
"Works from the Collection", Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, California
"Paintings", Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico
"David Simpson - Silvers, Blues and Greys", John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, California, Angles Gallery, Santa Monica, California
"David Simpson - Illuminations - Works on Paper", Mincher Wilcox Gallery, San Francisco, California
"David Simpson - Recent Paintings", Mincher Wilcox Gallery, San Francisco, California
"David Simpson - New Paintings", Anthony Ralph Gallery, New York, New York
1993
John Good Gallery, New York
1991
"Recent Paintings", Bemis Foundation, Omaha, Nebraska
"Large Paintings", Angles Gallery, Santa Monica, California
"Small Paintings", Mincher Wilcox Gallery, San Francisco, California
"Small Paintings", Angles Gallery, Santa Monica, California
1990
"Solo", Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, Lincoln, Nebraksa
"Recent Paintings", Mincher Wilcox Gallery, San Francisco, California
1986
Modernism Gallery, San Francisco, California
1983
American River College Art Gallery, Sacramento, California
1982
Modernism Gallery, San Francisco, California
1980
Fine Arts Gallery, California State University, Los Angeles, California
1979
Modernism Gallery, San Francisco, California
1978
The Oakland Museum, Oakland, California
1974
St. Mary's College Art Gallery, Moraga, California
1973
Mills College Art Gallery, Oakland, California
1972-73
Hank Baum Gallery, San Francisco, California
1971
Hank Baum Gallery, San Francisco, California (traveling)
Hank Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, California
1969
Van der Voort Gallery, San Francisco, California
1968
Henri Gallery, Washington, D.C.
David Stuart Gallery, Los Angeles, California
1967
"Ten Year Retrospective", San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California (traveling)
David Stuart Gallery, Los Angeles, California
Worth Ryder Art Gallery, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California
1965
Richmond Art Center, Richmond, California
Hack Light Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona
1964
Robert Elkon Gallery, New York, New York
David Stuart Gallery, Los Angeles, California
1963
Robert Elkon Gallery, New York, New York
1962
David Cole Gallery, San Francisco, California
1962
Paul Joachim Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
1961
Robert Elkon Gallery, New York, New York
M.H. de Young Museum of Art, San Francisco, California
1960
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, California
1959
David Cole Gallery, San Francisco, California
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California
1958
San Francisco Art Association Gallery, San Francisco, California
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2011
“Beyond Tradition: Art Legacies at the Richmond Art Center,” Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA
2010
“Extract: Developing Exhibitions Inspired by the Collection,” Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA
2009
"Other Voices, Other Rooms," Dorsky Gallery, Long Island City, NY
2008
“Fundamental Abstraction II: In Memory of Kim Wauson”, Haines Gallery, San Francisco, CA
"West Coast Abstraction: Selected Works from 1975-2007, Part 1," MODERNISM, San Francisco, CA
2007
“The Panza Collection: An Experience of Color and Light,” Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
“di capo!,” Lausberg Contemporary, Toronto, Canada
2006
“Director’s Choice,” Haines Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2005
“Director’s Choice: Contemporary Art with Objects from Asia,” Haines Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2003
“Real Unreal,” Shepard Fine Arts Gallery, Reno, NV
2002
“Fifteen – 15th Anniversary Exhibition,” Haines Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2001
The Panza Collection, Sassuolo, Italy
“Painting Today – Overseas and Here,” Renate Schroder Gallerie, Cologne, Germany
2000
"Minimalism: Then and Now," UC Berkeley Art Museum, CA
The Panza di Biumo Collection, Varese, Italy
1999
“Bay Area Now 2,” Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA “Material Issues: recent Gifts From The Collection of Katherine & James Gentry”, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, California
1998
“Colleccio de Panza Di Biumo”, Palazo Ducale, Gubbio, Italy
1997
"Paintings", Schroder Gallery, Koln, Germany
Colleccio de Panza Di Biumo, Lionja, Spain (Palma de Majorca)
Modernism Gallery, San Francisco, California
Trento, Italy (Panza Collection Exhibition)
"Obsession + Devotion", Haines Gallery, San Francisco, California
Seomi Gallery, Seoul, Korea
1996
"E la chiamano pittura...", Studio la Citta, Verona, Italy (catalog)
"Inaugural Show", Haines Gallery, Brooklyn Heights, New York
"The Panza di Buima Donation: European and American Art '83-'93", Museo d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Trento and Rovereto, Italy
1995
"Facing Eden", M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, California
"California Collection", Hunsaker Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, California
"Essential Marks: Works on Paper", Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico
"The Panza di Buima Donation: European and American Art '83-'93", Museo Cantonale D’Arte, Lugano, Switzerland (catalog)
1994
"Collectors' Choice", Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico
"16 California Artists", Galerie Sho, Tokyo, Japan
1992
"Cultural Fabrication", John Good Gallery, New York, New York
1991
"Abstract Paintings", Modernism Gallery, San Francisco, California
"Squaresville", Angles Gallery, Santa Monica, California
1990
"Los Angeles International Art Fair", Angles Gallery, Los Angeles, California
"California A to Z and Return", Butley Institute, Youngstown, Ohio
"The Dark Sublime: Art at the End of our Century", Scott Alan Gallery, New York, New York
"Paint", Mincer Wilcox Gallery, San Francisco, California
"Order and Intuition: Aspects of Bay Area Abstract Painting", Palo Alto Cultural Center, Palo Alto, California
"Abstract Paintings", Modernism Gallery, San Francisco, California
"Paintings Without Pictures", Suite 309, 165 Eight Street, San Francisco, California
"Art and Architecture", Santa Monica Heritage Museum, Santa Monica, California
"Abstract Painting", Angles Gallery, Santa Monica, California
"Works on Paper", Modernism Gallery, San Francisco, California
1987
"Faculty Drawing Exhibition", Worth Ryder Art Gallery, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California
1986
"Three Abstract Artists", Koplin Gallery, Los Angeles, California
"Classical Abstraction", Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, California
"White Rabbit Symposium and Jack Spicer Conference", Intersection Gallery, San Francisco, California
"Geometric Abstraction in America", Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska
1985
"Art in the San Francisco Bay Area 1945-1980", The Oakland Museum, Oakland, California
"Ten California Colorists", Redding Museum and Art Center, and Shasta College, Redding, California
"50th Anniversary Exhibit", San Francisco Museum of Modern Art,
San Francisco, California
"San Francisco Bay Area Painting", Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska
"Faculty Exhibition", Worth Ryder Art Gallery, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California
1983
"Directions in Bay Area Painting: A Survey of Three Decades 1940's-1960's",
Richard L. Nelson Gallery, University of California at Davis, Davis, California
"The Planar Dimension: Geometric Abstraction by Bay Area Artists", Walnut Creek Art Center, Walnut Creek, California
"Northern California Art of the Sixties", De Saisset Museum, University of Santa Clara, Santa Clara, California
"On Reflection: A Tribute to John Humphrey", San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California
1981
"Small Format Exhibition," Bluxome Gallery, San Francisco, California
"Drawing: Contemporary Concerns", Shasta College Art Department, Redding, California
"Faculty Show", Worth Ryder Art Gallery, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California
"Alumni Exhibitions: San Francisco Art Institute", San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California
"Works on Paper by Gallery Artists", Modernism Gallery, San Francisco, California
"The Constructivist Spirit", Janus Gallery, Venice, California
"Made on the Coast", Chicago International Art Exposition, Navy Pier, Chicago, Illinois
"Group Exhibition" (of John Berggruen Gallery artists), Art Center School of Design, Pasadena, California
"Art Faculty Resources Exhibition", Worth Ryder Art Gallery, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California
"American Abstract Art Since 1945", San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California
"Bay Area Painters", traveling exhibition organized by the Western Association of Art Museums
"California Artists: Original Works of Art on Paper" (Hank Baum Gallery
Artists), Basel Art Fair, Switzerland
"Painting and Sculpture in California: The Modern Era", San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California and National Collection of Fine Arts, Washington, D.C.
"Faculty Show", Worth Ryder Art Gallery, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California
1976
"Twenty Bay Area Painters", Richmond Art Center, Richmond, California
"Faculty Drawing Show", Worth Ryder Art Gallery, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California
"Hansen Fuller Gallery Pays Tribute to the San Francisco Art Institute", Hansen Fuller Gallery, San Francisco, California
"Faculty Show", Worth Ryder Art Gallery, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California
"Selections from the American Print Collection", Art Gallery, Mills College, Oakland, California
1974
"Our Land, Our Sky, Our Water: Expo '74", Spokane, Washington (organized by Alfred Frankenstein)
"Graphics Selections", San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, California
"Invitational Exhibition", Palo Alto Cultural Center, Palo Alto, California
"Group Exhibition", Richmond Art Center, Richmond, California
"Group Exhibition", Nevada Art Gallery, Reno, Nevada
"Eight From California", Springfield Art Association Gallery, Springfield, Illinois
"Group Exhibition", The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT
"Art Faculty Show", Barrow Lane Gallery, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California
"Box Top Art", College of Fine Arts, Illinois State University
"Invitational Lithography Exhibition", Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida
1970
"Looking West 1970", Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska
"Contemporary Prints and Drawings", The Oakland Museum and Kaiser Industries, Oakland, California
"Trends in Twentieth Century Art", The Art Galleries, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California
"Expo '70: Painters and Sculptors of San Francisco", presented by San Francisco Art Commission at the World's
Fair, Osaka, Japan
1969
Kaiser Art Center, Oakland, California
Marlborough Graphics Gallery, New York, New York
"California Now", The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota Springs, Florida
"Contemporary American Paintings and Sculpture", University of Illinois at Urbana, Illinois
"Painting 1969", University of Nevada at Reno, Reno, Nevada
"Biennial Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture", Krannert Museum of Art, University of Illinois
1968
"Sixteen from San Francisco", Municipal Art Gallery, San Pedro, California
"Forty Now California Painters", Tampa Bay Art Center, Tampa, Florida
"The West Coast Now", Portland Art Museum Portland, Oregon (traveling exhibition)
"West Coast '68", Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California
"163rd Annual Exhibit of American Painting and Sculpture", Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1967
"Thirtieth Anniversary Exhibit", Richmond Art Center, Richmond, California
"New Modes in California Painting and Sculpture", La Jolla Museum of Art, La Jolla, California
Crocker Museum of Art, Sacramento, California
"Pittsburgh International Exhibition of Contemporary Painting and Sculpture",
Carnegie Institute Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
"Some Continuing Directions", Balboa Pavilion, Newport Harbor, California
"Three West Coast Artists", Gordon Woodside Gallery, Seattle, Washington
"Art Across America", Knoedler Gallery, New York, New York
"Six Artists from the West", San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, California
"Five Bay Area Artists", Quay Gallery, San Francisco, California
1965
"Art Across America", San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California (traveling exhibition)
"Colorists", San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California
"Post-Painterly Abstraction", Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California (traveling)
1963
Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
"The Artist's Environment", Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas
1962
Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, Stanford, California
"Fifty Californians", Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York
Torino Museum of Modern Art, Italy
Stadler Gallery, Paris, France
"Americans 1962", Richmond Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia
"Pittsburgh International Exhibition of Contemporary Painting and Sculpture",
Carnegie Institute Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
1960
"International Gutai Sky Festival", Osaka, Japan
"Winter Invitational", California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, California
1955
Oakland Museum of Art, Oakland, California
Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado
M.H. de Young Memorial Art Museum, San Francisco, California
1953
"Art Association Annual", San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California (1956, 1958)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2012
Deliso, Meredith. "Forget the Rothko Chapel and Meditate in Front of David Simpson's Calming,
Intense Paintings", Houston Press, November 13, 2012.
2009
Van Proyen, Mark. “David Simpson at Modernism.” Artweek, May 2009.
Baker, Kenneth. “What Set Bay Area Painters Apart in the ‘60s.” San Francisco Chronicle, January 24, 2009.
2007
Baker, Kenneth. “ Simpson goes to the well again,” San Francisco Chronicle, Datebook, April 28, 2007.
2005
Reeve, Ed. “To The Light House,” Art Review, May 2005.
Baker, Kenneth. “25th Anniversary,” ARTnews, Volume 104, January 2005
2004
Baker, Kenneth. “Artist gets subtle changes with metallic paints that we just can’t pin down,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 10, 2004
2003
The Arts Venue North, October 17, 2003, Albuquerque, New Mexico
2001
Van Proyen, Mark. “David Simpson,” ARTnews, February
Vetrocq, Marcia E. “Italy: New and Improved,” Art in America, January
2000
Bonetti, David. "Bay Area artist and his 'modern Medici'," San Francisco Examiner, August 23.
1999
"David Simpson", Exhibition Catalog, Studio la Citta, Verona, Italy, (Text by David Bonetti and Michael David Haggerty)
Baker, Kenneth, "A Steady Gaze on a Shifting View", San Francisco Chronicle, December 11.
Baker, Kenneth “Challenging Work Speaks for Itself in Post-Minimalist Gift”, San Francisco Chronicle,
March 2.
Bonetti, David, "Two Who Saver Paint", San Francisco Examiner, December 18.
"David Simpson", Art Guide, San Francisco Bay Guardian, December 3.
Jenkins, Steven, "Previews - David Simpson", Artweek, Volume 28, October.
1996
Baker, Kenneth, (review), San Francisco Chronicle, April 5.
Bonetti, David, "Artists who take Abstraction to Ground Zero", San Francisco Examiner, April 12.
Bensley, Lis, "He Choreographs the Light, Creates Visual Magic", Pasatiempo, October 13, pg. 25 & 57.
Baker, Kenneth, "David Simpson's Layered Beauties", San Francisco Chronicle, January 18, pg. C5.
Baker, Kenneth, "David Simpson", ARTnews, April, p.130.
Bonetti, David, San Francisco Examiner, January 17, p. D2.
MacMillan, Kyle, "Simpson's Art is all about Color, Texture", Omaha World Herald, January 3, pg. 31.
Baker, Kenneth, "Simpson's Tricky Monochromes", San Francisco Chronicle, April 20.
Moser, Charlette, "David Simpson", Art Week, March 8, pg. 15
Timberman, Marcy, "Luminous Meditations", Art Week, March 8, pg. 15.
Baker, Kenneth, "David Simpson at Mincher/Wilcox", San Francisco Chronicle, March 17.
MacMillan, Kyle, "Contemporary Artists in Sheldon Spotlight", Sunday World Herald, Entertainment Section, June 17, p 17.
Bonetti, David, "Texture and Reductionism," San Francisco Examiner, March 21, p. C11.
Humphrey, John, "David Simpson 1957 - 1967", Exhibition catalog,
San Francisco Museum of Art, California Deeds, Daphne A., "David Simpson", Exhibition catalog, Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, Soho, New York
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland
Berkeley Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley, California
Central Research Corporation, New York, New York
Columbia Broadcasting System, New York, New York
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California
M.H. de Young Museum, The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, California
IBM Corporation, Chicago, Illinois
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC
La Jolla Museum of Art, La Jolla, California
Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, California
John D. and Catharine T. MacArthur Foundation, Chicago, Illinois
Museo d’Arte Cantonale, Lugano, Switzerland
Museo d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto, Trento, Italy
Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, California
Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Oakland Art Museum, Oakland, California
Panza Collection, Lugano, Switzerland
Picker Art Gallery, Colgate University, Hamilton, New York
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, Arizona
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California
San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, California
Seattle Museum of Art, Seattle, Washington
Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
Villa Menafoglio Litta Panza, Biumo Superiore, Varese, Italy
Zellerbach Corporation, California
