Chronology

1907 – Born May 26, Jackson, Michigan.
1930 – Receives B.A. from Albion College, Albion, Michigan; begins law school at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
1932-1935 – Attends School of Fine Arts, Yale University, New Haven and receives four-year certificate.
1936 – Appointed assistant supervisor of mural painting, Federal Arts Projects, Works Progress Administration (WPA), New York.
1937 – Founds and directs Phoenix Art Center (now Phoenix Art Museum) under WPA Federal Arts Project.
1938-1939 – Designs and installs Frontiers of American Art, the first comprehensive West Coast exhibition of the Federal Arts Project, at M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco.
1939 – Sent to Des Moines to assist in starting the Des Moines Art Center Under Federal Arts Project.
1941 – Begins museum studies program at Harvard University. Schooling is interrupted by WWII service with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), Washington D.C.
1947 – Returns to Arizona to paint; settles in Scottsdale.
1949 – Solo exhibition, San Francisco Museum of Art; solo exhibition, Civic Drama Festival Playhouse, Phoenix.
1950 – Solo exhibition, Watercolors of the Southwest, The Bustle, Wickenburg, Arizona; group exhibition, Weyhe Gallery, New York; group exhibition, 56th Annual Exhibition for Western Artists, Denver Art Museum.
1951 – Group exhibition, 16th Annual New Year Show, The Butler Art Institute, Youngstown, Ohio,; group exhibition, 57th Annual Exhibition for Western Artists, Denver Art Museum.
1954 – Group exhibition, 60th Annual Exhibition for Western Artists, Denver Art Museum.
1956 – Group exhibition, Invitational Exhibition of Arizona Art, University of Arizona College of Fine Arts at Arizona State Fair (second prize in oils).
1957 – Solo exhibition, Matthews Library, Arizona State College, Tempe; around this time, signature style of oil painting emerges.
1958 – Group exhibition, American Art of our Time, Provincetown Arts Festival, Massachusetts.
1960 – Solo exhibition, Phoenix Art Museum; group exhibition, Second Arizona Annual, Phoenix Art Museum.
1961 – Curtis Trust is formed by Lewis J. Ruskin and nine other patrons from Phoenix to provide financial support for Curtis, allowing him to focus on painting; lasts for three years.
1963 – M. Knoedler & Co., New York becomes Curtis’ agent in the United States; solo exhibition, Phoenix Art Museum; group exhibition, 19th Artists WEST of the Mississippi: The Realistic Image, Colorado Springs Fine Art Center, Colorado.
1964 – Group exhibition, The 159th Annual Exhibition of American Painting and Sculpture, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia; featured in May 29th issue of Time magazine; group exhibition, Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture from a Personal Collection: F.M. Hinkhouse Collection, St. John’s College, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
1965 – Group exhibition, 30th Annual Midyear Show, Butler Institution of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio; group exhibition, The Rockford 50: Fifty States of Art Exhibition, Burpee Art Museum, Rockford, Illinois.
1966 – Solo exhibition, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; solo exhibition, Feingarten Galleries, Los Angeles; group exhibition, A Cultural Exchange Exhibition, Mesa Community College, Arizona (comprised of pieces from permanent collection of Arizona State University).
1967 – Galerie Krugier et Cie, Geneva, Switzerland, becomes Curtis’ European agent; solo exhibition, Galerie Krugier et Cie; solo exhibition , The Art of Philip C. Curtis, a 20-year retrospective at Northern Arizona University; solo exhibition, Galerie Bettie Thommen, Basel, Switzerland; solo exhibition, Suites 16: Philip C. Curtis, Galerie Krugier et Cie.
1968 – Interviews taped by PBS Station KAET, Tempe, Arizona; group exhibition, Music in Art, Northern Arizona University, Third Annual Flagstaff Summer Festival; group exhibition, XIX: Honoring the 19th Olympic Games, Phoenix Art Museum; group exhibition, Gifts of Clare Booth Luce, University Art Collections, Arizona State University.
1969 – Elected Benjamin Franklin Fellow, Royal Society of Arts, England; group exhibition, Dealer’s Choice, Northern Arizona University Art Gallery, Fourth Annual Flagstaff Summer Festival; move from M. Knoedler & Co. to Coe Kerr Gallery, New York.
1970 – Solo exhibition, Arizona State University; solo exhibition, University of Arizona, Tucson; solo exhibition, Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, fort Worth, Texas; solo exhibition, Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City; solo exhibition, Coe Kerr Gallery, New York; featured in October 5th issue of Time magazine.
1971 – Solo exhibition, Palm Springs Desert Museum, California; honorary Doctor of Fine Arts presented by Albion College.
1972 – Solo exhibition, UCLA Art Galleries, Los Angeles; solo exhibition, University of Nevada, Salt Lake City; solo exhibition, Prescott Fine Arts Association, Prescott, Arizona.
1974 – Solo exhibition, Galerie Ariadne, Vienna; debut of The Time Freeze, a film about Curtis produced and directed by Jose Bermudez.
1975 – Group exhibition with 6 other artists, Arizona Invitational ’75, Phoenix Art Museum.
1977 – Group exhibition, Contemporary Artist of the American West, Santa FE Festival of the Arts.
1978 – Solo exhibition, Scottsdale Center for the Arts; solo exhibition, C. M. Russell Museum, Great Falls, Montana; solo exhibition, The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.
1979 – Receives Distinguished Achievement Award from Arizona State University College of Fine Arts, Tempe; solo exhibition, Ella Sharp Museum, Jackson, Michigan.
1980 – Solo exhibition, Gallery 609, Denver, Colorado.
1981 – Permanent exhibition of Curtis’ work opens at Phoenix Art Museum; honorary Doctor of Humane Letters presented by Arizona State University.
1983 – Receives Governor’s Arts Award, Artist of the Year, State of Arizona.
1984 – Receives Cultural Contributions Award from the City of Scottsdale Fine Arts Commission; solo exhibition, Fine Arts Center, Tempe.
1985 – Solo exhibition, The Arizona Bank, Phoenix.
1986 – Solo exhibition, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff; solo exhibition, Plains Art Museum, Moorhead, Montana.
1987 – Receives Cultural Contributions Award from City of Scottsdale Fine Arts Commission; group exhibition, Nocolaysen Art Museum, Casper, Wyoming.
1988 – Solo exhibition, Known and Unknown: A Retrospective Exhibition 1947-1987, Scottsdale Center for the Arts.
1989 – Group exhibition, Paintings from Sister Cities, Himeji City Museum, Japan.
1990 – Solo exhibition, Philip C. Curtis Paintings, 1962-1988, Marilyn Butler Fine Arts, Scottsdale; same exhibition at Marilyn Butler Fine Arts, Santa Monica California; solo exhibition, Early Works at Honorary Dinner, Phoenix Art Museum.
1991 – Inauguration of Philip C. Curtis Visiting Artist Program at Albion College supported by the Wanda and Russell Babcock Foundation; Receives Distinguished Alumni Award from Albion College; solo exhibition, Philip C. Curtis: The Return, the Elsie E. Munro Gallery, Bobbitt Visual Arts Center, Albion College; exhibition and auction, Works on Paper, Swann Galleries, New York.
1992 – Honored by Arizona Historical Society as one of ten “Arizona History Makers” for the State of Arizona’s 80th Anniversary; exhibition and auction, Works on Paper, Swann Galleries, New York.
1993 – First printing of An Illustrated Catalog of the Works of Philip C. Curtis, compiled by Nancy Kitchell, Dan Farrell Davis, and Larry Mehren, Garland Press; solo exhibition, Philip C. Curtis: And Time Stood Still: An Exhibition of Selected Paintings, Riva Yares Gallery, Scottsdale.
1994 – Release of Philip C. Curtis: An American Original, a documentary produced by Ken Marsolais and directed by Gerardo Puglia (premiers at Scottsdale Center for the Arts); group exhibition, New Traditions: Modern Art in Savannah Area Collections, Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences, Savannah, Georgia.
1995 – Philip C. Curtis: An American Original aired on PBS, wins Gold Apple Award from National Educational Media Network; Philip C. Curtis Gallery opens at Phoenix Art Museum.
1997 – College of Fine Arts at Arizona State University establishes Philip C. Curtis Endowed Graduate Fellowship, honors Curits on his 90th birthday at Nelson Fine Arts Plaza, Tempe.
1998 – Solo exhibition, A Procession: Painting by Philip C. Curtis from Valley Collections, University Art Museum, Arizona State University.
1999 – First printing of American Dreamer: The Art of Philip C. Curtis, Hudson Hills Press and Phoenix Art Museum; construction begins for Ullman Center for the Art of Philip C. Curtis, (exhibition and study facility at Phoenix Art Museum).
2000 – Solo exhibition, American Master: Enigma in Red and Gold, West Valley Art Museum, Surprise, Arizona; group exhibition, The First 35 Years, Riva Yares Gallery, Scottsdale; Philip C. Curtis dies at home in Scottsdale on November 12th.
2001 – Ullman Center for the Art of Philip C. Curtis opens at the Phoenix Art Museum.
2003 – Solo exhibition, Philip C. Curtis: A Life, A Retrospective View: 1951-2000, Riva Yares Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
2007 – Solo exhibition, Philip C. Curtis: Sound and Silence, Bobbitt Visual Arts Center, Albion College, September. Philip C. Curtis: Sound and Silence, exhibition catalog.
*From Philip C. Curtis: A Life, American Dreamer, Illustrated Catalogue, and the Curtis Trust official chronology and scrapbooks.

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By Benjamin Evans