Philip C. Curtis (1907-2000) was an American painter whose surrealist
images evoke a sense of solitude, desire and longing for the past. Born
in Jackson, Michigan, Curtis graduated from Albion College in 1930, then
received a degree in painting from Yale University’s School of Fine Art.
Working for the WPA, he participated in the Murals Project and founded the Phoenix Art Center
(now the Phoenix Art Museum).
Upon completion of military service in 1947, Curtis rented a
converted stable on a tiny trail called Cattle Track in Scottsdale,
Arizona and embarked on a career in painting that lasted for the next 53
years. Curtis achieved national fame in those years, exhibiting
regularly in the region and occasionally in San Francisco and New York.
In 1995, Curtis was the subject of an award-winning PBS documentary, Philip C. Curtis: An American Original.
Today Scottsdale has grown up around the tiny trail, still called
Cattle Track, and the modest stables-turned-studio in which Curtis lived
and died is preserved by the Philip C. Curtis Charitable Trust for the
Encouragement of Art. Curtis is well-known in the Phoenix area, and the
Phoenix Art Museum hosts the Ullman Center for the exhibition and study
of Curtis’ work held by the Museum. His work appears in public
collections throughout the southwest and is is rapidly increasing in
popularity throughout the nation.
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 Project, 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 of 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 Institute 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, Las Vegas; solo exhibition, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, 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 Artists 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 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, 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 Curtis on his 90th birthday at Nelson Fine Arts Plaza, Tempe.
1998 – Solo exhibition, A Procession: Paintings 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 Art Center, Albion College, September.
Philip C. Curtis: Sound and Silence, exhibition catalog.
