| Year(s) | Age | John O’Neil (1915-2004) |
|---|---|---|
| 1915 | Born, Kansas City, Missouri | |
| 1923 | 8 | Moved to Oklahoma City |
| 1928 | 13 | First painting, landscape |
| 1931 | 16 | High school study with Grace Chadwick: paintings, posters, set designs. First solo exhibition, Carnegie Library |
| 1932 | 17 | Art major, University of Oklahoma. |
| 1936-1937 | 21-22 | Graduate study, Colorado, with Boardman Robinson, Paul Barlin, Henry Varnum Poor. First teaching position. Figure and landscape painting. | 1939 | 24 | Master’s degree in painting. First New York trip. Museum of Modern Art; Museum of Non-Objective Art; Art of This Century. First abstract painting. |
1941 | 26 | Taos. Study with Emil Bisttram. Series of geometric color abstractions. | 1943 | 28 | U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Algeria. Graphic intelligence charts and maps. |
1944-1945 | 29-30 | U.S. Army. Graphic artist, Pentagon, Washington. Opening of National Gallery. 1st Bonnard show. |
1946 | 31 | Discharge from army. Return to Oklahoma. | 1947-1949 | 32-34 | Taught at Ann Arbor and in New York. Met Baziotes, Tony Smith, Jackson Pollock. Participated in national exhibitions. |
1950 | 35 | First Italian sojourn: Pisa, Rome, Venice. | 1951 | 36-50 | Director, School of Art, University of Oklahoma. 1951-65. | 1951 | 36 | Second Italian sojourn: University of Florence. Visits to Siena, Arezzo. | 1952 | 37 | Third Italian sojourn. Studied: Studio Hinna, Rome. | 1953-1962 | 38-47 | Teaching, administration and European travel: Scandinavia, Spain, Greece. Abstract painting with landscape references. Set designs, album designs. | 1965 | 50 | Move to Houston. Professor, Rice University. Simplified color abstractions. | 1965 | 50-55 | Chairman, Department of Art. 1965-70. | 1966-1974 | 51-59 | Painted in California, Texas & New Mexico. Oil pastel drawings. Color abstractions. Travel in England and the Netherlands. | 1971 | 56-62 | Director, Sewall Art Gallery, Rice University. 1971-77. | 1978 | 63 | First solo Houston Exhibition, Louisiana Gallery. | 1980 | 65 | Retirement from Rice University. Joseph/Jonna Nazro Mullan Professor Emeritus, Art and Art History. |
1981-90 | 66-75 | Travel to Switzerland, Germany & Austria. Small precisionist watercolors. Acrylic paintings on canvas and paper. Larger, more fluid watercolors. | 10/11/04 | 89 | Deceased, St. Luke’s Hospital, Houston. |
