Born Jacob Tworkov in Poland in 1900, Jack Tworkov migrated to the United States in 1920. He settled in New York and studied variously at Columbia College, the National Academy of Design, and the Art Students League, before becoming an American citizen in 1928.
Though he was closely associated with the Abstract Expressionist movement of the early 1950s, by 1982, the year of his death and the year that he created the lithograph KTL #1 at Tyler Graphics, his style had become more geometric and less gestural.
Emilie Owens
1900
Born Jacob Tworkovsky in Biala, Poland
1920–23
Studies at Columbia College, New York City, New York
1923–24
Studies with Ivan Olinsky at National Academy of Design, New York City
1925–26
Studies with Guy Pène du Bois and Boardman Robinson at Art Students League of New York
1928
Becomes citizen of United States of America
1931
Teaches at Ethical Culture Fieldston School, New York City
1935–41
Works in easel division of WPA Federal Works Project, New York City; becomes friends with Willem de Kooning
1940
First solo exhibition, at ACA Gallery, New York City
1942–45
Works as tool designer
1948
Solo exhibition, at Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland
1948–53
Maintains studio adjoining Willem de Kooning’s; paints in Abstract Expressionist style
1949
Co-founder of Eighth Street Club, which becomes a centre for the artists of the New York School
1954
Teaches at Indiana University, Bloomington, and at University of Mississippi, Oxford
1955–58
Teaches life drawing at Pratt Institute, New York City
1963
Receives William A Clark Prize from Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
1963–69
Appointed Chairman of School of Art and Architecture; awarded Masters of Fine Arts in privatum by Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut; becomes interested in elementary geometry and number systems
1964
Travelling exhibition, Jack Tworkov, organised by Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City
1969
Elected William C Leffingwell Professor Emeritus of Painting, Yale University
1970
Receives John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship
1970–72
Visiting Professor of Painting at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, New York City
1971
Solo exhibition, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City; receives Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from Maryland Institute of Art, Baltimore
1972
Artist-in-residence, American Academy of Arts and Letters, Rome, Italy; awarded Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, Columbia University, New York City
1973
Artist-in-residence, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire
1974
Receives Painter of the Year Award, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Maine
1976
Included in exhibition, Artist immigrants of America 1876–1976, at Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC
1977–78
Completes TL. # I–8 lithograph series at Tamarind Institute, Albuquerque, New Mexico
1979
Receives honorary degree, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence
1981
Elected member of American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters
1982
Completes lithograph at Tyler Graphics Ltd., Bedford Village, New York; solo exhibition, Jack Tworkov: 15 year retrospective, at Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, New York City
1982
Jack Tworkov died in Provincetown, Massachusetts
Barbara Delano © Tyler Graphics Ltd.
This chronology provides an overview of selected biographical information, major solo and group exhibitions held within the artist's own lifetime.
