Born Pensacola , Florida 1936. Lives New York City

 
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2006 - Elizabeth Harris Gallery , New York , NY
1993 - Andre Zarre Gallery , New York , NY
1990 - Twining Gallery, New York , NY
1988 - Gallerie Nordenhake, Stockholm , Sweden
- Pensacola Museum of Fine Art , Pensacola , FL
1986 - Oscarsson-Siegeltuch , New York , NY
- Millerville University Gallery, Millerville , PA
1985 - Gloria Luria Gallery, Miami , FL
- C.W. Woods Gallery, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg , MS
1984 - Oscarsson Hood Gallery , New York , NY
1983 - Gallerie Nordenhake, Malmo , Sweden
- Engstrom Gallery, Stockholm , Sweden
1982 - Nina Freudenheim Gallery, Buffalo , NY
- Galerie Gonet, Lausanne , Switzerland
- Eason Gallery, Santa Fe , NM
- Phoenix Gallery, Pittsburgh , PA
1981 - Marianne Deson Gallery, Chicago , IL
- Oscarsson Hood Gallery , New York , NY
1980 - Oscarsson Hood Gallery , New York , NY
- Gallerie Nordenhake, Malmo , Sweden
1970 - 55 Mercer Street Gallery , New York , NY
1971 - New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans , LA
1970 - Simonne Stern Gallery, New Orleans , LA
1970 - Paley and Lowe , New York , NY
1968 - Henri Gallery , Washington , D.C.
1967 - Henri Gallery , Washington , D.C.
 
TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS

2005 - “Raising the Bar: James Little & Thornton Willis”, Sideshow Gallery, Brooklyn , NY
 
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2008 - “Shape Shifters: New York Painters, The A.D. Gallery, UNC Pembroke, Pembroke , NC , Sideshow Gallery. New York , NY
2006 - Sideshow Gallery, Brooklyn , NY
- “Oracle”, Holland Tunnel Gallery, Paros , Greece and Brooklyn , NY
2006 - “Neoplastic Redux”, Elizabeth Harris Gallery , New York , NY
- Ober Gallery , Kent , CT
- “New Criterion Benefit Auction”, Salander-O'Reilly Gallery, New York , NY
2005 - The Yellow Bird Gallery, Newburgh , NY
- Holland Tunnel Gallery , NY
2003 - The Spike Gallery, Green Chimney's Auction & Benefit , New York , NY
2002 - “Recent Acquisitions”, The Sarah Moody Gallery of Art, U. of Alabama , Tuscaloosa , AL
- “Paintings”, The Space, New York , NY
2001 - “New York Artists”, Emily Lowe Gallery, Hofstra Museum , Hofstra University, Hempstead , NY , curated by James Little
- “Abstraction and Immanence”, Hunter College, New York, NY, curated by Vincent Longo
- “911 Abstract Art”, L.S. Phillips Studio 18 Gallery, New York , NY
2000 - Musee Cantonal Des Beaux-Arts DeLausanne , Switzerland , curated By R. Zaugg
- “American Abstract Artists, 1930-2000”, Hillwood Art Museum , curated by J. Price
1999 - “The Art of Absolute Desire”, Gershwin Hotel , New York , NY, curated by James Little
- “The Power of Drawing”, Westbeth Gallery , New York , NY, curated by Beverly Brodsky
1998 - “Absolut Secret”, David McKee Gallery , New York , NY
- “Abstract Index”, Condesco/Lawler Gallery, New York, NY, curated by Vincent Longo
1997 - “Abstract Tendencies”, Rider College Gallery, Lawrenceville , NJ , curated by D. Rosenthal, (catalog)
1996 - “New York – Abstract”, New York Arts Magazine space, New York, NY, curated by James Little
1993 - “Small Paintings: Big Issues”, Douglas Drake Gallery , New York , NY
- “The Tradition”, Anita Shapolsky Gallery , New York , NY
1991 - “Abstract Paintings: the 90s”, Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York, NY, curated by Barbara Rose
1988 - American Academy & Institute of Arts & Letters, New York , NY
- “Dorothy Diener, Peter Voulkos, Thornton Willis”, Twining Gallery, New York , NY
1986 - Cork Gallery, Lincoln Center , New York , NY
- Oscarsson-Seigeltuch Gallery, Inaugural show, New York , NY
1985 - Rose Museum , Brandeis University , Waltham , MA
- “Affair of the Heart”, Albright-Knox Art Gallery , Buffalo , NY
- “Color Abstraction in the 80s”, Baruch College , New York , NY, curated by Katherine Crum
- “Abstract/Issues”, Tibor de Nagy , New York , NY , curated by Steven Madoff
- “Current Six: New Abstraction”, Milwaukee Museum of Art, Milwaukee , WI , curated by G. Nordland
1984 - “Ten Years of Contemporary Art”, G.E. Corporation, Fairfield , CT, circulated by MOMA
- “An International Survey of Recent Painting and Sculpture”, The Museum of Modern Art , New York , NY , curated by Kynaston McShine, (catalog)
1983 - “ARS 83”, Museum of Fine Art , Helsinki , Finland
- Foster Goldstrom Fine Arts, San Francisco , CA
1982 - Galerie Numaga, Neuchatel , Switzerland
1981 - Galerie Arneson, Copenhagen , Denmark
- “New Art II: Surfaces/Textures”, The Museum of Modern Art, New York , NY
- “Painting Up Front”, Herbert F. Johnson Museum , Cornell University , Ithica , NY , curated by Thomas Leavitt (catalog)
- “New Directions: A Corporate Collection”, Sidney Janis Gallery , New York , (selected by Sam Hunter)
- “ New York , Paper Works Show”, Nina Freudenheim Gallery, Buffalo, NY
1980 - “Seven Young Americans”, Sidney Janis Gallery , New York , NY
- “Color Painting”, Gallery Engstrom, Stockholm , Sweden
1979 - “American Painting: The Eighties”, Grey Art Gallery , New York , NY, curated by Barbara Rose
 
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

2007 - Panero, James, "Comeback Kid", Art and Antiques, December, pp110-114
- Esplund, Lance, "A Show of Painterly Swagger", Gallery Going, The New York Sun, November, 8, p22
- Panero, James, "Gallery Chronicle", The New Criterion, Volume 26, Number2, November, pp61-62
- Perl, Jed, "Laissez-Faire Aesthetics", The New Republic,
Feb. 2, pp 21-27
- Olson, Craig, "Thornton Willis Recent Paintings", The Brooklyn Rail,
February, p43
2006 - Joseph, Channing, "Making a Quantum Comeback", The New York Sun, December, 19, p13
- Goodrich, John, “Gallery Going, Thornton Willis: Recent Paintings”, The New York Sun, December 14, p 18
- Walentini, Joseph, “New York Views”, Abstract Art on Line , Dec 1
2005 - La Rocca, Ben, “ Thornton Willis and James Little”, The Brooklyn Rail , April
- Lieb, Vered, “Thonton Willis and James Little: Raising the Bar”, N.Y. Arts Magazine, Vol. 10, No 3/4, p71, March/April
- Kernan, Nathan, "Thornton Willis and James Little at Sideshow", Art in America, October, p 178
- Lieb, Vered, “ Thornton Willis and James Little”, Abstract Art on Line ,April
- Maine, Stephen, “Dateline Brooklyn , Artnet , April
- Naves, Mario, “A Shared Aesthetic and Goal, Raising the Bar at the Sideshow”, New York Observer , April 18, p 8
- Panero, James, “Gallery Chronicles”, The New Criterion , May, Vol 23, no 9, p50
- Walentini, Joseph, “Reviews: Thornton Willis and James Little”, AbstractArtonLine, May
2003 - Perl, Jed, “On Art: Unity and Variety”, The New Republic , Vol. 228, No 3, Issue 4593, Jan. 27
- Kaufman, Leslie, “The Lost Legacy of Stewart Hitch”, The New York Times , The City, Section 14, Feb.2
2001 - Morgan, Robert C., “Painted in New York City : The Presence of the Past”, catalog essay published by Hofstra University for “Painted in New York City ”, Jan.
1999 - Lieb, Vered, “The Art of Absolute Desire”, N.Y. Arts Magazine , Vol. 4, No. 8, pp50-1
1997 - Rosenthal, Deborah, catalog essay for “Abstract Tendencies”, Rider University Press
1994 - Scott, Sue, “Reviews: New York ”, ARTnews , Feb., p143
- Lloyd W., Ann, “Review of Exhibitions”, Art in America , May p112
1993 - Perl, Jed, “Code Name Painting”, The New Criterion , Dec., Vol. 12, no 4
1986 - Lieb, Vered, “Objective Spirit: Thornton Willis”, Arts Magazine , Nov.
1985 - Heartney, Eleanor, “ Thornton Willis as Oscarsson Hood”, ARTnews, Feb.
- Gaugh, Harry T., “Franz Kline: The Man and the Myth”, ARTnews, Dec.
1984 - Carrier, David, “Betwixt and Between Illusion and Literality: Thornton Willis' Recent Paintings”, p194, Nov.
- Rosenthal, Deborah, “First Underground Show”, Art in America , Nov., pp157-8
1983 - Madoff, Steven, “Looking for Thornton Willis: A Treatise”, Arts Magazine , March, cover and pp16-118
1981 - Murray, Jesse, Flash Art , Jan.
- Maschek, Joseph, “Abstract Identity: Thornton Willis”, Oct., pp126-131, reproductions pp. 126, 129, 130
1980 - Ratcliff, Carter, “ 55 Mercer St. Show”, Art in America , March, p116
- Frackman, Noel, “The Paintings of Thornton Willis”, Arts Magazine, Nov., pp58-60
- Cornu, Daniel, “La Peinture Abstraite en Question”, Tribune De Geneve , Dec. 16, p27
- Parks, Addison , Arts Magazine , Dec., p53
1979 - Feldman, Anita, “Space and Subjectivity”, Artforum , Sept., pp49-53
Boyce, David, “Interview with Thornton Willis”, Arts Magazine , Nov., P116
 
BOOKS

Clayton, Alice, As If Art Matters: Reviews and Commentary, Clayton Works,
Olympia, WA. , copyright 2004, cover image, “Thornton Willis”, pp33-5
Belamy, Peter, The Artists Project: Portrait of the Real Art World , : New York
Artists 1981-1990 , introduction by Neil Printz, IN Publishing, New York, NY,1991
Masheck, Joseph, “Historical Present: Essays of the 1970s”, Contemporary American Art Critics, No. 3 , edited by Donald Kuspit, UMI Research Press, Michigan , 1984, Chapter 22, pp249-257, “Thornton Willis and Abstract Identity”
 
HONORS AND AWARDS

2004 Southern Mississippi College of Arts and Letters, Wall of Fame
2001 The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Painting Fellowship
1991 Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Fellowship
1984 National Endowment for the Arts, Printmaking Fellowship
1980 National Endowment for the Arts, Painting Fellowship
1979 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Painting Fellowship
 
SELECTED FULL TIME TEACHING AND GUEST LECTURES

The Art Institute of Chicago
Carnegie-Melon University, Pittsburgh, PA
Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, LA
Louisiana State University in New Orleans, LA
New York University, New York, NY
Pratt Institute, New York, NY
Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
S.U.N.Y., Purchase, NY
University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE
University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS
Wagner College, Staten Island, NY
 
EDUCATION

1966 University of Alabama, MFA
1962 University of Southern Mississippi, BS

SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum New York, NY
The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C
Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, Ct.
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
Denver Museum of Fine Arts, Denver, CO
Weatherspoon Art Gallery, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC
Museum of Art, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh , PA
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, Louisiana
Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University
The Sarah Moody Gallery of Art, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
The Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR
Museum of Broadcasting, NYC
Musee A La Chaux-de-fonds, Switzerland
Malmo Museum of Fine Art, Kunsthalle, Malmo, Sweden
The Power Institute of Fine Arts, Sidney , Australia
The Herb and Dorothy Vogel Collection, New York, NY
Chase Manhattan Collection, New York City
Southeast Banking Corporation, Miami , FL and Los Angeles, CA
Hospital Corporation of North America, Nashville, TE
Inter-Metro Industries Corporation, Princeton, NJ
Frito-Lay Corporation, Dallas,
The Prudential Insurance Company of America