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Chronology


1955   

  • December 29, Born James William Bartlett III in Columbus, Georgia

1974     

  • Travels to Florence, Italy, studies privately with Ben F. Long IV.
  • Returns to Columbus, Georgia, marries.

1975            

  • First son Will is born.
  • Moves to Philadelphia.
  • Enrolls in Philadelphia College of Art (University of the Arts) 

1976            

  • Transfers to Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) 

1977

  • Awarded Packard Prize, PAFA 1977–78
  • Studies Privately with Nelson Shanks, Andalusia, Pennsylvania
  • Studies anatomy at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine 

1978       

  • Awarded Charles Toppan Prize, PAFA 1979

1979

  • Cresson Show, PAFA (Group Exhibition)
  • Awarded Cecelia Beaux Memorial Portrait Prize, PAFA
  • Travels to Europe

1980       

  • Cresson Show, PAFA (Group Exhibition)
  • Awarded Eleanor S. Gray Still Life Prize
  • Awarded First Thouron Prize
  • Receives Benjamin Lanard Memorial Award
  • Awarded William Emlen Cresson Traveling Scholarship, PAFA
  • Travels to Europe and the Middle East
  • Midyear Show, Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH (Group Exhibition)
  • Included in “81 People to Watch,” Philadelphia Magazine. (Publication) 

1980–81

  •  Studies Liberal Arts at University of Pennsylvania 

1981

  •  Cresson Show, PAFA (Group Exhibition)
  •  Second son Man is born.
  •  Receives Certificate of Fine Art, PAFA
  • Awarded Benjamin Lanard Memorial Prize



1982

  • Marian Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, PA (First Solo Exhibition in Philadelphia)
  • The Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, GA acquires Assignation

1983

  • Columbus Museum of Arts, Columbus, GA (Solo Exhibition)

1984          

  • Organizes Disdain for False Authorities, Alternative Space, Philadelphia, PA (Group Exhibition with PAFA Alumni: Vincent Desiderio, Richard Ranck, Thomas Sarrantonio, and Robert Simon)

1986

  • Receives Certificate in Filmmaking, New York University
  • Article by Bill Scott, “Bo Bartlett, A Young Artist with Ambitions,” American Artist, Sept. 1986 (Cover)
  • First visit to Prouts Neck, Maine
  • Third son Eliot is born.
  • Named “Best Artist in Philly,” Philadelphia Magazine, Lisa DePaulo



1988

  • Sublimism: New Paintings and Drawings (Independent Solo Exhibition at the Cast Iron Building in Philadelphia, PA)
  • P·P·O·W Gallery, New York, NY (First Solo Exhibition in New York)



1989    

  • Review by Ken Johnson, “Bo Bartlett at P·P·O·W.,” Art in America, June 1989
  • Review by Catherine Liu, “Bo Bartlett P·P·O·W.,” Art Forum, March 1989
  • Love and Charity: The Tradition of Caritas in Contemporary Painting (Traveling Group Exhibition organized by Sherry French Gallery)
  • Trains and Planes: The Influence of Locomotion in American Painting (Traveling Group Exhibition organized by Sherry French Gallery)
  • Revelation and Devotion: The Spirit of Religion in Contemporary Painting, (Traveling Group Exhibition organized by Sherry French Gallery)

1990    

  • Review by Vivien Raynor, “By Train and Plane and, Oh Yes, the Car”, New York Times, April 29, 1990.
  • Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, SC (Solo Exhibition)
  • Contemporary Philadelphia Artists, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA (Group Exhibition)
  • Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, SC acquires Lamb

1991         

  • P·P·O·W, New York, NY (Solo Exhibition)
  • Review by Roberta Smith, New York Times, Jan. 25 1991
  • Review by Jennifer P. Borum, Artforum, April 1991
  • Three on the Figure, Butler Art Institute, Youngstown, OH (Group Exhibition)
  • Ex-Patriots, Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, GA (Group Exhibition)
  • Ten Contemporary Philadelphia Painters, Westmoreland Museum of Art, Greensburg, PA (Group Exhibition)
  • Art for Your Collection, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI (Group Exhibition)

1992        

  • Begins work with Betsy Wyeth on Snow Hill documentary film on the life and art of Andrew Wyeth
  • Beyond Realism: Image and Enigma, Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Loretto, PA. Curated by Paul Binai. (Group Exhibition)

1992

  • Daniel Saxon Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (Solo Exhibition)

1993        

  • Awarded PEW Fellowship in the Arts
  • Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts,
  • Philadelphia, PA acquires Tender
  • More Gallery, Philadelphia, PA (Solo Exhibition)
  • F.A.N. Gallery, Philadelphia, PA (Solo Exhibition)

1994

  • P·P·O·W New York, NY (Solo Exhibition)

1995        

  • 25 Years, John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA (Group Exhibition)
  • Struve Gallery, Chicago, IL (Solo Exhibition)
  • Completes Snow Hill, documentary film on the life and art of Andrew Wyeth
  • Spends summer on Benner Island, Maine with Andrew and Betsy Wyeth
  • First visit to Matinicus Island, Maine

1996    

  • Snow Hill receives CINE Golden Eagle Award, Gold Apple Award – National Educational Media Network Awards, Best Documentary – Hot Springs DFF, Best Biography – CINDY Awards, and Best Documentary – Philadelphia FVF
  • The Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, GA acquires Homecoming
  • Heroic Painting, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC, Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, FL, Queens Museum of Art, New York, Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN, The Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH, Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MS, University Gallery, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Amherst, MA, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL, Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC, and Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ (Travelling Group Exhibition)
  • Review by Peter Schjeldahl, “Heroism Addiction,” The Village Voice, Aug. 6, 1996
  • Review by David Zimmerman, “Art Exhibit Casts a Critical Eye at Common Concepts of Heroism,” USA Today, Oct. 29, 1996
  • Review by Michael Kimmelman, “History Painting: Yes, Those Enormous Canvases”, The New York Times, Aug. 30
  • Review by Ruth Bass, “When a Rose is a Rose,” Art News, Feb. 1996
  • Reality Bites: Realism in Contemporary Art, The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, Kansas City, MO (Group Exhibition)
  • Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita, KS (Solo Exhibition)

1996  

  • P·P·O·W, New York, NY (Solo Exhibition)
  • F.A.N. Gallery, Philadelphia, PA (Solo Exhibition)         

1997

  • Re-Presenting Representation III, Arnot Art
  • Museum, Elmira, NY (Group Exhibition)
  • Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA (Solo Exhibition)
  • More Gallery, Philadelphia, PA (Solo Exhibition)

1998

  • Denver Museum of Art, Denver, CO acquires Wedding
  • Purchases Wheaton Island, Maine



1998-99

  • Oil Patch Dreams, Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont, TX, The Museum of the Southwest, Midland, TX, The El Paso Art Museum, El Paso, TX, Austin Museum P·P·O·W New York, NY (Solo Exhibition)

1999                       

  • Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, IL (Solo Exhibition)
  • Torch, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (Solo Exhibition)
  • Indomitable Spirits: The Figure at the end of the Century, The Art Institute of Southern California, Laguna Beach, CA (Group Exhibition)
  • Changing Faces: Contemporary Portraiture, Jim Kemper Fine Art, New York, NY (Group Exhibition) Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, GA acquires The Art of Drawing
  • Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA acquires Heartland

2000        

  • Hunter Museum of American Art, TN acquires The Babysitter
  • Water Series, University at Buffalo Art Gallery, SUNY, Buffalo, NY (Solo Exhibition)
  • Water Series, P·P·O·W New York, NY (Solo Exhibition)
  • In the Shadow of the Flag, Tippy Stern Fine Art, Charleston, SC (Group Exhibition)

2001

  • John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA (Solo Exhibition)
  • The More Gallery, Philadelphia, PA (Solo Exhibition)
  • Figurately Literal: Contemporary Paintings from Metro-Detroit Collections, Elaine L. Jacob Gallery at Wayne State University, Detroit, MI (Group Exhibition)



2002        

  • Aquaria, Traveling Exhibition originating at Aufsttellung in der Ausstellung, Linz, Austria (Group Exhibition)
  • P·P·O·W, New York (Solo Exhibition)



2003        

  • Transforming the Commonplace, Susquehanna Art Museum, Harrisburg, PA (Group Exhibition)
  • Review by Joe Hill, “Bo Bartlett at P·P·O·W.” Art in America, Jan. 2003
  • Edie Caldwell Gallery, Sausalito, CA (Group Exhibition)



2003-04

  • Heartland: Paintings by Bo Bartlett 1978- 2002, Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, SC, Columbus Museum, Columbus, GA, Heartland, Pennsylvania
  • Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA, Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA (Travelling mid-career Retrospective Exhibition)



2004        

  • Travels around the world
  • Still Point of the Turning World, P·P·O·W, New York, NY (Solo Exhibition)
  • Paintings for TIME, to accompany article: “Person of the Year, The American Soldier”, December 29, 2003-January 5, 2004, p. 32.
  • Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA (Solo Exhibition)
  • Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA acquires History Lesson
  • 21, P·P·O·W, New York, NY (Group Exhibition)
  • US Artists American Fine Art Show, Philadelphia, PA (Group Exhibition)
  • Innocence Found, DFN Gallery, New York, NY(Group Exhibition)
  • 6th Annual Realism Invitational, Karen Jenkins Johnson Gallery, San Francisco, CA (Group Exhibition)
  • Not Just Another Pretty Vase: A Comprehensive Exhibition Still Life Painting, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara (Group Exhibition)
  • The Art Show, ADAA, New York, NY



2005        

  • Moves to Seattle
  • Figuration, Winston Wächter Fine Art, Seattle, WA (Group Exhibition)
  • In Limbo, Victoria H. Myhren Gallery, Denver, CO (Group Exhibition)
  • Then as Now, Sordoni Art Gallery, Wilkes University, PA (Group Exhibition)



2006        

  • This Inner/Outer World, P·P·O·W Gallery NY (Solo Exhibition)
  • Review, “This Inner Outer World,” Art in America, Dec. 2006.
  • Manifest Destiny, Winston Wachter Fine Art, Seattle, WA ( Solo Exhibition)



2007        

  • Marries painter Betsy Eby.
  • Still Point, Farnsworth Museum, Rockland, ME (Solo Exhibition)
  • Travelogue, Somerville Manning, Greensville, DE (Solo Exhibition)
  • Solstice, David Floria Gallery, Aspen CO (Group Exhibition)
  • PULSE Miami Art Fair, Soho Studios, Miami, FL (Group Exhibition)
  • Art Chicago Contemporary Art Fair, P·P·O·W, New York, NY (Group Exhibition)
  • PULSE Contemporary Art Fair, P·P·O·W, New York, NY (Group Exhibition)



2008    

  • Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA acquires The Low Road
  • Seven Bridges Foundation, Greenwich, CT acquires America
  • US Artists, Philadelphia, PA ( Solo Exhibition)
  • Direct Encounters: Essence of Portraiture, Forum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (Group Exhibition)
  • Art Chicago Contemporary Art Fair, P·P·O·W, Chicago, IL (Group Exhibition)
  • Betsy Eby & Bo Bartlett: New Works, David Floria Gallery, Aspen, CO (Group Exhibition)
  • Los Angeles Art Show, Los Angeles, CA (Group Exhibition)
  • People, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York, NY (Group Exhibition)
  • Yesterday and Today PAFA Alumni Invitational, Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA (Group Exhibition)
  • Pulse Miami Art Fair, Miami, FL (Group Exhibition)



2009        

  • Bo Bartlett, Forum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (Solo Exhibition)
  • Forum Gallery, New York, NY (Solo Exhibition)
  • David Klein Gallery, Birmingham, MI (Solo Exhibition)
  • A Concise History of Northwest Art, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA (Group Exhibition)
  • PAFA Alumni Invitational: Legacies, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Pennsylvania, PA (Group Exhibition)
  • Seven Bridges Foundation, Greenwich, CT
  • acquires The Triumph of Romance
  • The Figure – Then and Now, Delaware County Community College, Media, PA, Center of Creative Arts, St
  • Louis, MO, and The Emerson Gallery at Hamilton College, Clinton, NY (Travelling Group Exhibition)
  • Bo Bartlett: Paintings 1984 – 2000, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, University of New Orleans, LA (Solo Exhibition)
  • Enchantment, Joseloff Gallery, Hartford Art School, University of Hartford, West Hartford, CT (Group Exhibition)
  • Personal Territory, David Klein Gallery, Birmingham, M (Group Exhibition)
  • Legacies: Works by Twelve Former Students of Elizabeth Osborne and Sidney Goodman, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA (Group Exhibition)
  • Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA (Group Exhibition)
  • Center of Creative Arts, St Louis, MI(Group Exhibition)
  • The Armory Show, New York, NY (Group Exhibition)
  • Art Chicago, Chicago, Il (Group Exhibition)
  • American Green, Somerville Manning Gallery, Greenville, DE (Group Exhibition)
  • Five Artists of Accomplishment from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Somerville Manning Gallery, Greenville, DE (Group Exhibition)

2010        

  • American Masters, Somerville Manning Gallery, Greenville, DE (Group Exhibition)
  • Thriving In Seattle: A Retrospective, GAGE Academy of Art, Seattle, WA (Group Exhibition)
  • Private (dis)play, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY (Group Exhibition)
  • Figure As Narrative, Columbus State University, Columbus, GA (Group Exhibition)
  • Paintings of Home, P·P·O·W Gallery, New York, NY (Solo Exhibition)
  • US Artists Fine Art Show, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA (Solo Exhibition)
  • My Summer Vacation, Winston Wächter Fine Art, Seattle, WA (Group Exhibition)
  • Solemn and Sublime: Contemporary Figure Painting, Akus Gallery, Eastern Con State University (Group Exhibition)
  • Dowling Walsh Gallery, Rockland, Maine (Solo Exhibition)



2011

  • Paintings of Home, CSU Department of Art, The Norman Shannon and Emmy Lou P. Illges Gallery Columbus, GA (Solo Exhibition)
  • A Survey of Paintings, W.C. Bradley Co. Museum, Columbus, GA (Solo Exhibition)
  • Sketchbooks Journals and Studies, Columbus Bank and Trust, Columbus, GA
  • Real: Realism in Diverse Media, Imago Galleries, Palm Desert, CA (Group Exhibition)



2012

  • Moves to Columbus Georgia to open The Bo Bartlett Center
  • Bo Bartlett, David Klein Gallery, Birmingham, MI
  • Best of the Northwest, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma WA (Group Exhibition)
  • Perception of Self, Forum Gallery, New York NY (Group Exhibition )
  • Not So Silent Benefit, Flux Factory, Long Island City, NY (Group Exhibition)
  • Texas Contemporary Art Fair, P·P·O·W, Houston TX (Group Exhibition)

2013

  • Receives the Brookstone Distinguished Alumni Award
  • Love and Other Sacraments, Dowling Walsh Gallery, Rockland, ME
  • Nocturnes: Romancing the Night, National Arts Club, New York, NY (Group Exhibition)
  • The Philadelphia Story: Contemporary Figurative Work Drawn from the Academy, Asheville Art
  • Museum, Asheville, NC (Group Exhibition)
  • The Outwin Boochever 2013 Portrait Competition Exhibition, Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC
  • The University of Mississippi Museum, Oxford, MS (Solo Exhibition)



2014

  • Art Chicago, Ameringer McEnery & Yohe (Group Exhibition)
  • Youngest son, Eliot, passes away
  • Receives the Columbus State University Honorary Alumni Award
  • Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, GA (Solo Exhibition)
  • 701 Center for Contemporary Art, Columbia, SC (Solo Exhibition)



2015

  • Art Basel, Miami Beach, Ameringer McEnery & Yohe (Group Exhibition)
  • American Masters, Somerville Manning Gallery, DE (Group Exhibition)  

2016

  • Official Portrait of the Honorable Judge Ricardo Urbina unveiled, Ceremonial Courtroom, Washington DC
  • Ameringer McEnery Gallery, NY (Solo Exhibition)
  • Scala publishes midcareer monograph: Bo Bartlett
  • The Things We Carry: Contemporary Art in the South (Group Exhibition)
  • Rockwell and Realism in an Abstract World (Group Exhibition)
  • Seattle Art Fair, Ameringer McEnery Yohe (Group Exhibition)
  • Truth & Vision: 21st Century Realism, Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE (Group Exhibition)
  • Behind the Easel: The Unique Voices of 20 Contemporary Representational Painters, Somerville Manning Gallery, Greenville, DE (Group Exhibition)
  • Article by John O’Hern, “Encounters with the Great Mystery.” American Art Collector, July 2016 (Cover)
  • Review by Elle Tyra, “Between Fantasy and Realism, Bo Bartlett Unmoors His Visions from the Everyday”, Hyperallergic, August 2016.
  • Review by Peter Plagens, “What’s Hanging in Three New York’s Galleries”, Wall Street Journal, July 2016
  • Article by Larry Gierer, “Bo Bartlett’s New York City art exhibit closes”, Ledger-Enquirer, August 2016 
  • Review by Walt Morton, “Top 100 oil Painters Working Right Now”, Poets and Artists, November 2016

 2017

  • Bo Bartlett: American Artist, Mennello Museum of American Art and Orlando Museum, FL (Solo Exhibition) 
  • Review by Hind Berji, "The American Life of Bo Bartlett", Artborne Magazine, March 2017 
  • The Mennello Museum acquires "The American". (The American, 2016, 82 x 100 inches. Acquired by the Friends of The Mennello Museum of American Art and with a gift from The William E. Heyler Trust, 2016. 
  • Painguide, Booth Gallery, NY (Group Exhibition) 
  • Article by Monika Mroz, "Mythical Paintings of Bo Bartlett", Ignant Magazine, March 15, 2017. 
  • Article by Art Daily, "Large Scale Oil Paintings by Bo Bartlett on View at the Mennello Museum of Art", April 10, 2017 
  • Paintings from the Outpost, Dowling Walsh Gallery, ME (Solo Exhibition) 
  • Awarded the 1858 Prize for Southern Contemporary Art by the Gibbes Museum of Art 
  • Uncompromising Visions, Cerulean Gallery, PA (Group Exhibition) 
  • Summer of 2017 shoots feature film Things Don't Stay Fixed in Columbus, GA. 
  • Saltonstall, Polly. "Island Life", Maine Boats Homes and Harbours, Issue 147. Print. 2017. 
  • PoetsArtists, Arcadia Contemporary, CA (Group Exhibition) 
  • New Baroque, Booth Gallery, NY (Group Exhibition) 
  • Article by Bo Bartlett, Hyperallergic, “Remembering My Friend Andrew Wyeth on His 100th Birthday” July 2017
  • Featured in Gettysburg Review, Autumn 2017 

2018 

  • Trust the Process (Group Exhibition)
  • Seattle Art Fair: Somerville Manning Gallery, PA (Group Exhibition)
  • The Serious and the Smirk (Group Exhibition)
  • The Bo Bartlett Center opens in Columbus, GA. 
  • Retrospective: The Bo Bartlett Center, GA (Solo Exhibition)
  • Article by Bob Keyes, Portland Herald, "Maine painter Bo Bartlett goes home to his roots in Georgia and lends name to new art center", January 21, 2017 
  • Article by John Seed, Hyperallergic, "The Bo Bartlett Center Opens with a Vision for Community Service Through the Arts", March 2018
  • Belief in Giants: Miles McEnery Gallery, NY (Group Exhibition)
  • Gouaches & Oils: Miles McEnery Gallery, NY (Solo Exhibition)
  • Article by John Dorfman, Art & Antiques, "American Stories", June 2018 edition
  • Article by John O'Hern, American Art Collector, "Intimate Worlds", July 2018 edition
  • Objects of Desire: Bernaducci Gallery, NY (Group Exhibition)
  • Betsy Eby & Bo Bartlett in Conversation with Alyssa Monks, New York Academy of Art, New York NY, 2018
  • In discussion with Glenn Holsten of WYETH, public screening, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA



2019

  • Lecture, Studio Incamminati, Philadelphia, PA
  • Innovation and Vitality, Avery Galleries, Byrn Mawr, PA (Group Exhibition)
  • Paintings and Works on Paper, Weber Fine Art, CT (Solo Exhibition)
  • Named "Georgia Fellow" of the 2019 South Arts Prize, Columbia, SC
  • Painting the Figure Now, Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art, Wausau, WI (group exhibition)
  • Innovation and Vitality, Avery Galleries, Byrn Mawr, PA (group exhibition)
  • Awarded Atelier Focus Fellowship, Air Serenbe, Atlanta, GA
  • Person to Person, Forum Gallery, New York, NY (group exhibition)
  • Exhibition at the Powerstation, Ithan Substation No. 1, Villanova, PA (group exhibition)
  • Bo Bartlett ~ Forty Years of Drawing, The Florence Academy of Art, Jersey City, NJ (Solo exhibition)
  • Paintings from the Outpost, Dowling Walsh Gallery, Rockland, ME (solo exhibition)
  • Lauren Rogers Museum of Art News, Summer 2019 (Cover)

2020

2021

2022

2023