WILLIAM N. COPLEY
William N. Copley (1919–1996), is celebrated today for his unique contribution to post-war painting, providing a singular connection between European Surrealism and American Pop Art. With subjects ranging from everyday objects such as umbrellas, flags and cars, to universal morality tales, exploring themes of love, adultery and death, Copley gave form to his fantasies and fetishes through strong black outlines and a self-taught, figurative style. Not only a painter, but a writer, gallerist, collector, publisher, and patron to the arts, his colourful, animated works abound with playful, baroque patterns, visual puns, and bawdy ballads, combining politics, sex and satire, under one style, and one signature: CPLY.
‘The visual vocabulary of Copley begins with the verb “I love” and from there it leads through colourful adjectives and staccato interjections to the great crossword puzzle in which words and images simmer together in a process of distillation. Copley, the cordon bleu in all questions of erotic chemistry, stirs into his pot the right ingredients of humour, black as the guillotine and the grand piano, red white and blue as the flag as underwear, a rainbow in fact that terminates in a pot de chambre. His insight into life, which goes beyond his enjoyment even of its absurdities, gives him the vision to express himself as a painter, that is a poet in visual imagery.’
R. Penrose, ‘William Nelson Copley’, first published on the occasion of an exhibition at the Galleria Arturo Schwarz, Milan, 1962, as reprinted in William N. Copley. Heed, Greed, Trust, Lust, exh.cat., Hannover: Kestner-Gesellschaft, 1995, p. 201
Image: Battle of the Sexes No. 2, 1974, acrylic on cotton, 160.2 x 286.4 cm.; 63 1/8 x 112 3/4 in.; 161.7 x 288 x 4.5 cm.; 63 5/8 x 113 3/8 x 1 3/4 in. (framed). Photo: def image
Artist Talk
Selected Works
, 1966">
Solo Exhibitions
Group Exhibitions
Selected Institutional Exhibitions
Biography
VITA
1919
Born in New York City, USA
1938
Studied at Phillips Academy and Yale University
1996
Died in Key West, USA
SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Aargauer Kunsthaus
Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin
Art Institute of Chicago
Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa
Centre Pompidou, Paris
Denver Art Museum
Destina Foundation, New York
Falckenberg Collection, Hamburg
Fondazione Prada, Milan
Goetz Collection, Munich
Hessel Museum of Art, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
International Centre Of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana
Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Lenbachhaus, Munich
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles
Maremont Collection, Chicago
The Menil Collection, Houston
Moderna Museet, Stockholm
Musée d'art moderne et contemporain, Geneva
Musée d'art moderne et contemporain, Saint-Etienne
Musée de l'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden
Museum Ludwig, Cologne
Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Vienna
Museum Ulm
Nagaoka Contemporary Art Museum, Nagaoka
Newport Harbour Museum, Newport
Oberlin College Art Museum, Oberlin
Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia
Power Institute, Sydney
Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton
Städel Museum, Frankfurt
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Tate Collection, London
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024
LXCN CPLY
Kasmin, New York
2023
See Yourself as Lovers See You (duo show with Dorothy Iannone)
Philara Collection, Düsseldorf
AUTOEROTICISM: Paintings from 1984 and related works
Galerie Max Hetzler, Paris
2022
Works on Paper
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin
Galerie Klaus Gerrit Friese, Berlin
Sadie Coles HQ, London
2020
Helmut Newton 100 / William N. Copley 101 / Jonathan Monk 51
Galerie Klaus Gerrit Friese, Berlin
The New York Years
Kasmin, New York
Valley of Gold: Southern California and the Phantasmagoric
Kasmin, New York
The Ballad of William N. Copley
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin
William N. Copley: The Temptation of St. Anthony (Revisited)
Nino Mier, Los Angeles
William N. Copley: Drawings and Paintings 1966–1991
Nino Mier, Los Angeles
2018
William N. Copley: The Coffin They Carry You Off In
Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), Miami
Publishing the Portable Museum: William N. Copley’s The Letter Edged in Black Press
Alden Projects, New York
2017
William N. Copley: Women
Kasmin Gallery, New York (catalogue)
2016
William N. Copley: The World According to CPLY
The Menil Collection, Houston, travelled to:
Fondazione Prada, Milan
2015
Galerie 1900-2000, Paris
William N. Copley: Drawings (1962–1973)
Kasmin Gallery, New York
William N. Copley: Paintings from 1960–1994
Showroom by Paul van Esch & Partners Art Advisory, Amsterdam
2014
William N. Copley: Paintings and Mirrors
Michael Fuchs Galerie, Berlin
2013
Finally We Laugh
Galerie Linn Lühn, Dusseldorf (catalogue)
William Copley & Big Fat Black Cock, Inc. Gang Bust
Venus Over Manhattan, New York (catalogue)
2012
Copley
Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden, travelled to:
Max Ernst Museum Brühl, Hannover
Patriotism of CPLY and All That
Kasmin Gallery, New York
William N. Copley: Works 1948–1983
Galerie Von Braunbehrens, Munich (catalogue)
2011
William N. Copley: See Yourself as Lovers See You
Galerie Klaus Gerrit Friese, Stuttgart
X-Rated
Sadie Coles HQ, London
2010
X-Rated
Kasmin Gallery, New York (catalogue)
2009
Galerie Klaus Gerrit Friese, Stuttgart
Western Songs
El Sourdog Hex, Berlin
Linn Lühn, Cologne
2007
Linn Lühn, Cologne
2006
Nolan/ Eckman Gallery, New York
Galerie Manus Presse/ Klaus Gerrit Friese, Stuttgart (catalogue)
2005
Galerie Onrust, Amsterdam
2004
Galerie Daniel Blau, Munich
Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Geneva
2003
Nolan/ Eckman Gallery, New York
Easy to Read Storybook
BAWAG Foundation, Vienna (catalogue)
Johann König, Berlin
2002
Drawings 1954–1994
Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich
2001
Nolan/ Eckman Gallery, New York
Bonnefanten Museum, Maastricht
2000
Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York
William N. Copley: 1919–1996
Galerie Leu GmbH & Co., Munich
1999
William N. Copley: Nouns
Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich
L.A.C., Lieu d’Art Contemporain, Sigean
Galerie Daniel Blau, Munich
William N. Copley: Missing Link
Herning Kunstmuseum
CPLY 1919-1996: The Art of William Copley
Forum of Contemporary Art, St. Louis
1998
Galerie Lelong, Zurich (catalogue)
Tekeningen
Galerie Onrust, Amsterdam
Nolan/ Eckman Gallery, New York
1997
True Confessions
Ulmer Museum, Ulm (catalogue)
Galerie Kurt Schäfer, Berlin
William N. Copley: Gedächtnisausstellung Bilder und Zeichnungen 1961–1993
Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich
1996
William N. Copley: New Paintings
Nolan/Eckman Gallery, New York
William N. Copley: Bilder Aquarelle Zeichnungen
Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich
1995
William N. Copley: Heed Greed Trust Lust
Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hannover (catalogue)
Selected Paintings and Drawings
Galerie Lelong, Zurich
Galerie Kurt Schäfer, Berlin
Galerie Zell Am See, Schloss Rosenberg (catalogue)
Galerie Michael, Heidelberg
Galerie Brigitte Ihsen, Cologne
1994
Recent Paintings & Drawings
Nolan/Eckman Gallery, New York
Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich
Galerie Klewan, Munich
Bilder und Ziechnungen 1964–1993
Galerie Heike Curtze, Vienna
1993
Galerie Zell Am See, Schloss Rosenberg
Berliner Amerikaner
Haus am Lützowplatz, Berlin
Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich
1992
Disegni 1964 / 1991
Galleria Milano, Milan
William N. Copley: Zeichnungen
Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich
Bilder 1956–1992
Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich
1991
Paintings and Drawings 1956–1991
David Nolan Gallery, New York
Zeichnungen: 1964–1991
Galerie Fred Jahn, Stuttgart
Trust Lust Heed Greed
Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York and Chicago
CPLY: Designi su carta e piccole tele
Galleria Peccolo, Livorno
1990
Galerie Klewan, Munich
1989
Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago
1988
Galerie 1900/2000, Paris
1987
William N. Copley: Paintings – Drawings, 1966–1987
Galerie Kewenig, Frechen-Bachem
Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York
1986
The Tomb of the Unknown Whore
The New Museum, New York
1985
Acopleyshments, 1955–1985
Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York
The Quay Gallery, San Francisco
Galerie Susanna Kulli, Zurich
Galleria Montenapoleone, Milan
1983
Post-Raphaelite Painting
Onnasch Gallery, Berlin (catalogue)
Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York
1982
Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago
1981
William N. Copley: Bilder und Zeichnungen
Galerie Klewan, Munich (catalogue)
CPLY
Künstlerwerkstatt Lothringerstrasse, Munich
Lens Fine Art, Anvers
Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York
A RetrospeCPLYtive
Brooks Jackson Gallery Iolas, New York
1980
CPLY
Kunsthalle Bern, travelled to:
Musee National D’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris;
Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven;
Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe (catalogue)
Whorses
Brooks Jackson Gallery Iolas, New York
Billy Copley
Galerie Maier-Hahn, Dusseldorf
CPLY: Reflections on a Past Life
Institute for the Arts, Rice University, Houston
CPLY / X-Rated Paintings
Galerie Fassbender, Munich
1978
Variations on a Theme by Francis Picabia
David Stuart Galleries, Los Angeles and Brooks Jackson Gallery Iolas, New York (catalogue)
Galerie Rudolf Zwirner, Cologne
The Temptation of St. Anthony
Brooks Jackson Gallery Iolas, New York
Galerie Fassbender, Munich
Pictures and Drawings
Galerie Springer, Berlin
Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York
1977
Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago
1976
Washington Art Association, Washington Depot
The Patriotism of CPLY
David Stuart Galleries, Los Angeles
The Patriotism of CPLY: 1776 and All That
Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York
C.E. Gallagher and Co. of Garden Alley, Atlantic City
1975
Erik Nord Gallery, Nantucket
1974
Western Songs
Galerie Onnasch, Cologne (catalogue)
CPLY
Onnasch Gallery, New York
Moore College of Art, Philadelphia (catalogue)
X-Rater: An Exhibition of New Paintings and Drawings
New York Cultural Center, New York
1973
CPLY
Gallerie Il Fauna, Turin
1972
Gallery Suzanne Saxe, San Francisco
Galerie Iolas, Milan, Italy and Paris
David Stuart Galleries, Los Angeles
Galerie Michael Werner, Cologne
Galerie Aspects, Brussels
Mail Order
Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York
Galerie du Dragon, Paris
1971
Recent Paintings: Nouns
Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York
1970
Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York
Galerie Aspects, Brussels
Galerie Neundorf, Cologne
Galerie Springer, Berlin
David Stuart Gallery, Los Angeles
1969
Ballads
Galerie Iolas, Geneva
Galerie de Leone, Venice
Merida Gallery, Louisville
1968
Galerie Springer, Berlin
Galerie Neundorf, Hamburg
1967
Bodley Gallery, New York
Homage to Robert W. Service
Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York
Ballads
Galerie Iolas, Paris
1966
Copley: Entertainment for Men
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Projects for Monuments to the Unknown Whore
Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York Galerie Iolas, Paris
1965
Allan Frumkin Gallery, Chicago
Southwestern College, Chula Vista
Louisiana Gallery, Houston
1964
CPLY
David Stuart Gallery, Los Angeles
1963
CPLY
Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York
Les Suffragettes Erotiques de Bill Copley
Galerie Iris Clert, Paris
W.N. Copley: Paintings
Hanover Gallery, London
1962
The Flags (Les Etats-Unis du Monde)
Galerie Iris Clert, Paris
Galleria Arturo Schwarz, Milan
1961
William Copley – Paintings
Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
Recent Paintings by CPLY
Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York
Galerie Iris Clert, Paris
1960
Galleria Cavallino, Venice
Galleria d’Arte del Naviglio, Milan
Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York
1959
Galerie Furstenberg, Paris
1958
Paintings by William Copley
Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York
1956
Copley: Peintures Recentes
Galerie du Dragon, Paris
Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York
1954
Galleria Montenapoleone, Milan
1953
Nina Dausset, Paris
1951
CPLY: Paintings by William N. Copley
Royer’s Book Shop, Los Angeles
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024
Americans in Paris: Artists Working in Postwar France, 1946–1962
The Grey Art Museum NYU, New York
2023
Pictures Girls Make”: Portraitures
Blum & Poe, Los Angeles
Beach
Nino Mier Gallery, New York
The Curatorial Imagination of Walter Hopps
The Menil Collection, Houston
William N. Copley, Ambra Durante, ENFANT TERRIBLE
Galerie Friese, Berlin
2022
Touch Me. Nudes from the Miettinen Collection
Kunstraum Potsdam, Potsdam
Une collection hollandaise
Kamel Mennour, Paris
Galerie Jahn und Jahn, Munich
2021
Closer to Life: Drawings and Works on Paper in the Marieluise Hessel Collection
CCS Bard galleries, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY (catalogue)
Enjoy. The mumok Collection in Change
mumok, Vienna
The Greek Gift
Deste Foundation, Centre for Contemporary Art, Athens
2020
Impasse Ronsin. Murder, Love and Art in the heart of Paris
Museum Tinguely, Basel (catalogue)
Galerie Max Hetzler, London
Summer show
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin
Forget (Part II: Don’t Forget Your Mask)
Jahn und Jahn, Munich
Moving Energies – 10 Years me Collectors Room Berlin
me Collectors Room Berlin / Stiftung Olbricht, Berlin
2019
Recline: Portraiture & Henri Matisse Prints
McClain Gallery, Houston
Fringe: William N. Copley, Saskia Pintelon & Jenny Watson
Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Sint-Martens-Latem
2018
Kinder Gentler Nation
Karma, New York
Mr. Natural: And Other Works from the Allan Frumkin Gallery (1952–1987)
VENUS, New York
Nudes
Sadie Coles, London
Atlas
Fondazione Prada, Milan
Remember to React: 60 Years of Collecting
Nova Southeastern University Art Museum Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale
Trance
Aïshti Foundation, Jal El Dib
París pese a todo: Artistas extranheros, 1944–1968 (Lost, Loose and Loved: Foreign Artists in Paris, 1944–1968)
Museo Nacional Centro de Arta Reina Sofia, Madrid
Papier.Salon
Wentrup Gallery, Hamburg
2017
Animal Farm
The Brant Foundation, Greenwich
Hope and Hazard: A Comedy of Eros
Hall Art Foundation, Reading
Itinéraires
Musée D’Arts de Nantes, Nantes
Schlaf: Eine produktive Zeitverschwendung
Museen Böttcherstrasse, Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum, Bremen
An Incomplete History of Protest: Selections from the Whitney’s Collection, 1940–2017
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
America! America! How Real Is Real?
Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden
2016
William Copley, Elma Talbot, Ina van Zyl
Galerie Onrust, Amsterdam
Olymia
Karma at Galerie Patrick Seguin, Paris
The Revolutionary Suicide Mechanized Band
Rob Tufnell Gallery, Cologne
Impasse Ronsin
Kasmin Gallery, New York
2015
The Shadow is Taken
Algus Greenspon, New York
Viewer Discretion: Children of Bataille
Stux & Haller, New York
L’Impasse Ronsin
Kasmin Gallery, New York
The Violent Crab
David Roberts Art Foundation, London
Saul Steinberg and William Copley: Take on the Life
Galerie Klauss Gerrit Friese, Berlin
Painting 2.0: Expressions in the Information Age
Museum Brandhorst, Munich and Mumok Museum, Vienna
2014
Alexander the Great: The Iolas Gallery 1955–1987
Kasmin Gallery, New York
Live and Let Die
Modern Art, London
Purple States
Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York
Pop Abstraction
Fredericks and Fraser Gallery and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York
The Surrealist Bungalow
Linn Lühn, Dusseldorf
What Nerve!: Alternative Figures in American Art, 1960 to the Present
RISD Museum, Providence
2013
Re-view
Hauser & Wirth, London
Masculin/Feminine
Michael Fuchs Galerie, Berlin
2012
Interiors
Andrew Kreps, New York
2011
After Shelly Duval ’72 (Frogs on the High Line)
Maccarone Gallery, New York
William N. Copley and Andreas Slominski – X-Rated
me Collectors Room, Berlin
2009
And Other Essays
Bard College, Annandale-on Hudson
Exile on Main St.
Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht
Jr. and Son’s
Zach Feuer Gallery, New York
2008
Diana und Aktaion: Der Verbotene Blick auf die Nacktheit
Museum Kunstpalast, Dusseldorf
Karl Bohrmann - William N. Copley
Galerie Klaus Gerrit Friese, Stuttgart
Carte Blanche III: Gedichte der Fakten
Galerie für Zeitgenössiche Kunst, Leipzig
Liebe, Love, Paare
Gustav-Lübcke Museum, Hamm
Museum im Kulturspeicher, Würzburg
Ulmer Museum, Ulm
Mirror, Mirror
Edward Thorp Gallery, New York
2007
Deutsche und Amerikanische Malerei
Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden
Rockers Island: Olbricht Collection
Museum Folkwang, Essen
Sixties! Art, Fashion, Design, Film and Photography
Gemeentemuseum den Haag, The Hague
AFFINITIES
Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin
2006
Die anderen Bilder
Museum der Stadt, Ratingen
Ele-Mental
David Nolan Gallery, New York
Six Feet Under: Autopsie unseres Umgangs mit Toten
Kunstmuseum Bern
Models and Prototypes
Mildred Land Kemper Art Museum, Saint Louis
L’Amateur d’estampes
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Tourcoing
Collage Effect
1301PE, Los Angeles
Nolan/ Eckman Gallery, New York
2005
Internationale Zeichner
Galerie Biedermann, Munich
Bilderwechsel III: Amerikanische Malerei
Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden
2004
FUNNY CUTS: Cartoons und Comics in der zeitgenössische Kunst
Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart
Eröffnungsausstellung Sammlung Frieder Burda
Museum Frieder Burda and Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden
Christmas Art Gifts
Artiscope, Brussels
Baume
Galerie Biedermann, Munich
2003
Imagine: Selections from the Permanent Collection
Museum of Contemporary art, North Miami
2001
Kunst Sammeln I: Werke zeitgenössischer Kunst aus den Sammlungen von Cramm
Falckenburg, Kalkmann, Kunstverein Bad Salzdetfurth, Bodenburg
Museum Unserer Wünsche
Museum Ludwig, Cologne
2000
Prints
Nolan/ Eckman Gallery, New York
Im Gegenüber: Landschaften, Stilleben, Portraits
Galerie von Braunbehrens, Munich
1998
Summer Group Show
Nolan/ Eckman Gallery, New York
Imagined World
David Nolan Gallery, New York
1997
Magie der Zahl in der Kunst des 20 Jahrhunderts
Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart
Spiral Village
Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht
1996
Hommage a Copley
Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich
Think
Galerie Brigitte Ihsen, Cologne
Disegni americani degli anni ottanta: 15 artisti
Galleria Milano, Milan
1995
Bunnies - A Group Show
Nolan/ Eckman Gallery, New York
Drawing the Line: Reappraising Drawing Past and Present
Southampton City Art Gallery, Southampton, travelled to:
Manchester City Art Galleries;
Ferens Art Gallery, Hull and Whitechapel Art Gallery, London
1994
Old Glory: The American Flag in Contemporary Art
Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art, Cleveland
1989
Bilderstreit: Widerspruch, Einheit und Fragment in der Kunst seit 1960
Museum Ludwig in den Rheinhallen der Kölner Messe, Cologne
1988
Gran Pavese, The Flag Project
Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp, Antwerp
Roger Brown, William Copley, Duncan Hannah
Gloria Luria Gallery, Miami
1987
The Amused Eye: A National Sampling of Humor in Art
The Evanston Art Center, Evanston
1986
Column
Galerie Jule Kewenig, Frenchen-Bachem
Europa/Amerika: die Geschichte einer kunstlerischen Faszination seit 1940
Museum Ludwig, Cologne
1985
Cinquante ans de dessins americains, 1930–1980
Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris
Paravents
Schloss Lorsfeld, Kerpen
1984
Auto and Culture
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and Detroit Institute of Arts
1983
Looking at Women
Artemisia Gallery, Chicago
Festival of the Arts
Muhlenberg College, Allentown
Contemporary Paintings from the Weatherspoon Art Gallery
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
The Last Laugh
Southern Ohio Museum and Cultural Center, Portsmouth
1982
Documenta 7
Kassel
The Erotic Impulse
Roger Litz Gallery, New York
1981
Westkunst
Museen der Stadt Köln, Cologne
1980
American Painting of the Sixties and Seventies: The Real, Ideal and the Fantastic
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
The Figurative Tradition and The Whitney Museum of Art
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
1978
Aspekte der 60er Jahre: aus der Sammlung Reinhard Onnasch
Nationalgalerie, Berlin
American Nude
Harold Reed Gallery, New York
Box Museum
Cooper Hewitt Museum, New York
1977
Artist’s Renderings of Paintings
Pinoteca di Brera, Milan and Musée du Louvre, Paris
The Dada/Surrealist Heritage
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
Bad Painting
The New Museum, New York
1976
The William Seitz Memorial Exhibition
Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton
1975
Three Generations of the American Nude
New York Cultural Center, New York
1974
Seventy-First American Exhibition
Art Institute of Chicago
1972
Documenta 5
Kassel
1971
Erotic Art
The Art Center of the New School for Social Research, The New Museum, New York
1970
Hot Show
Cordier & Ekstrom Gallery, New York
Copley, Brauner and Magritte
Louisiana Gallery, Houston
Box Top Art
Illinois State University, Bloomington
1967
Around the Automobile
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Mixed Masters
University of St. Thomas, Houston
1966
Hommage à Caissa: Exhibition for the Chess Foundation of the Duchamp Fund
Cordier & Ekstrom Gallery, New York
Surrealist Exhibition
University of California, Santa Barbara
Le Portrait
Galerie Claude Bernard, Paris
25 Years of Art in San Diego
La Jolla Museum of Art, San Diego
1965
Pop Art, Nouveau Réalisme
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
Surrealist Exhibition
Byron Gallery, New York
Visiting Artists at the Tamarind Lithography Workshop
Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles
Group Show
Dwan Gallery, Los Angeles
Whence Pop
Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington
1964
Selections from the L. M. Asher Collection
University Art Gallery, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
New Directions in American Painting
Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham
Nieuwe realisten
Gemeentemuseum den Haag, The Hague
The Maremont Collection
Washington Gallery of Modern Art, Washington, D.C.
Le Surrealisme: Sources, Histoire, Affinities
Galerie Charpentier, Paris
1963
Pop Art USA
Oakland Museum of Art, Oakland
XIX Salon de Mai
Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris
18 Salon de Réalitiés Nouvelles
Musée Municipal d’Art Moderne, Paris
Paris Lettriste
Galerie Schmidt, Paris
1962
Collage out of California
Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena
Antagonismes 2: L’objet
Musée des Arts Decoratifs, Palais du Louvre, Pavillon de Marsan, Paris
Surrealismus: Phantastiche Malerei der Gegenwart
Künstlerhaus, Vienna
XVIII Salon de Mai
Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris
1961
XVII Salon de Mai
Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris
Bewogen beweging-Rorelse i Konsten
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Moderna Museet, Stockholm
1959
XVI Salon de Mai
Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme
Galerie Daniel Cordier, Paris
Arte Fantastica
Museo de Castello di San Giusto, Trieste
The Maremont Collection at the Institute of Design
Illinois Institute of Technology at Crown Hall, Chicago
1957
Verzameling Urvater
Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, Otterlo
The Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester; City of York Gallery, York; The Tate Gallery, London
1956
XV Salon de Mai
Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris
Exposition Internationale de l’art actuel
Nagaoka Museum, Nagaoka
1954
Americans in Paris
Galerie Arthur Craven, Paris
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Monographs
Kasmin Gallery (Ed.): William N. Copley, New York, 2017
Fondazione Prada (Ed.): William N. Copley, Milan, 2016
Linn Lühn (Ed.): Cply: Finally we laugh, Dusseldorf, 2013
Kasmin Gallery (Ed.): COPLY, New York, 2012
Stiftung Frieder Burda (Ed.): Copley, Baden-Baden, 2012
Galerie von Braunbehrens (Ed.): William N. Copley, works 1948–1983, Munich, 2012
Kasmin Gallery (Ed.): William N. Copley: x-rated, New York, 2010
Galerie Friese (Ed.): William N. Copley: Unter uns. Bilder, Arbeiten auf Papier, 1951–1993, Berlin, 2009
Klaus Gerrit Friese (Ed.): among ourselves, Ostfildern, 2009
Klaus Gerrit Friese (Ed.): William N. Copley: März, April, Mai 2006, Stuttgart, 2006
BAWAG FOUNDATION (Ed.): Easy to Read Storybook, Vienna, 2003
Schönewald Fine Arts (Ed.): William N. Copley: 1919–1996, Krefeld, 2000
William Copley Foundation (Ed.): CPLY, 1919–1996, St. Louis, 1999
Lieu d'Art Contemporain (L.A.C.) (Ed.): William N. Copley: CPLY, Sigean, 1999
Galerie Fred Jahn (Ed.): William N. Copley: nouns, Munich, 1999
Galerie Lelong (Ed.): „Love Out“ William N. Copley, CPLY, Zurich, 1998
Ulmer Museum (Ed.): William N. Copley: True Confessions, Ulm, 1997
Kestner-Gesellschaft (Ed.): William Copley. The Strumpet Muse, Cologne, 1995
Kestner-Gesellschaft (Ed.): William N. Copley, Bilder: 1951–1994, Hannover, 1995
Kestner-Gesellschaft (Ed.): William N. Copley: Heed greed trust lust. Bilder 1951–1994, Hannover, 1995
Galerie Fred Jahn (Ed.): William N. Copley: Zeichnungen 1964–1994, Munich, 1995
Phyllis Kind Gallery (Ed.): CPLY, New Yor,k 1991
David Nolan Gallery (Ed.): William N. Copley: CPLY, New York, 1991
Galerie 1900 – 2000 (Ed.): William N. Copley: CPLY, Paris, 1988
Galerie Onnasch (Ed.): Post-raphaelite paintings by William N. Copley, Berlin, 1983
Galerie Klewan (Ed.): William N. Copley: Bilder und Zeichnungen, Munich, 1981
Badischer Kunstverein: William N. Copley, Karlsruhe, 1981
Centre Pompidou (Ed.): William N. Copley, Paris, 1980
Onnasch Galerie (Ed.): William N. Copley: Western Songs, Köln, 1974
Galleria il Fauno (Ed.): CPLY, Milan 1973
Iolas Gallery (Ed.): „Nouns.“, Milan, 1970
Iolas Gallery (Ed.): Ballads, Paris/ New York, 1967
Stedeljik Museum (Ed.): Copley: Entertainment for men, Amsterdam, 1966
Iolas Gallery (Ed.): Projects for monuments to the unknown whore, New York, 1966
Hanover Gallery (Ed.): W. N. Copley, London, 1963
Galleria Schwarz (Ed.): Bill Copley, Milan, 1962
Iolas Gallery (Ed.): Homage to Robert W. Service (recent paintings), New York, 1967
Royer's Book Shop (Ed.): Paintings by William N. Copley, CPLY, Los Angeles, 1951
Others
William N. Copley (Ed.): Portrait des Künstlers als junger Händler, Bern, 1998
William N. Copley: The Stumpet Muse: Images of Robert W. Service, Köln, 1995
William N. Copley: Techniques of fornication, Berlin, 1993
William N. Copley (Ed.): Reflection on a past life, Cologne, 1976
William N. Copley: Notes on a project for a dictionary of ridiculous images, Köln/New York, 1972
William N. Copley: The evil I: or The story of my life, New York, 1965
Videos
Publications
William N. Copley: The Ballad of William N. Copley
Exhibition Poster
2020
Edition of 100
€ 20.00
Selected Press
ArtReview March 2020
frieze Magazine March 2020
Mousse Magazine 2016
east of borneo January 2014